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INTRODUCTION 



TO THE 



HISTORY OF THE COLONY 



AND 



ANCIENT DOMINION 



OF 



VIRGINIA. 



BY CHARLES CAMPBELL 



IN ONE VOLUME. 



RICHMOND: 

B. B. MINOR, PUBLISHER. 
MDCCCXLV1I. 



ENTERED, according- to Act of Congress, in the year 1847, 

By CHARLES CAMPBELL, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern 

District of Virginia. 






WM. MACFARI.ANE, PRINTER. 
S. L. MESSENGER OFFICE. 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



CHAPTER I. 
1492-1591. 

Early voyages of Discovery ; Madoc ; The Northmen ; Co- 
lumbus; John Cabot; Sebastian Cabot ; Sir Humphrey 
Gilbert; Walter Raleigh; Expedition of Amidas and 
Barlow; They land on Wococon Island; They return 
to England ; The new country named Virginia; Gren- 
ville's Expedition; Colony of Roanoke; Lane Govern- 
or ; The Colony abandoned ; Tobacco ; Grenville returns 
to Virginia; Leaves a small Colony at Roanoke; Sir 
Walter Raleigh sends out another Expedition ; City ol 
Raleigh Chartered; White Governor; Roanoke found 
deserted ; Virginia Dare, first child born in the Colony ; 
White returns for supplies; The Aimada; Raleigh as- 
signs the Colony to a Company ; White returns to Vir- 
ginia ; Finds the Colony extinct; Death of Sir Richard 
Grenville. 

The discoveries attributed to Madoc, the 
Welsh prince, have afforded a theme for the 
creations of poetry ; those of the Northmen 
of Iceland, better authenticated, still engage 
the dim researches of antiquarian curiosity. 
The glory of having made the first certain 
discovery of the New World, belongs to Co- 
lumbus. It was, however, the good fortune 
of the Cabots, to be the first who actually 
reached the main hind. It was in 1492, that 
the Genoese navigator fust landed on the 
shores of St. Salvador. [1497.] Giovanni 
Gaboto, in English, John Cabot, a Venetian 
merchant, resident at Bristol, with his son, 
Sebastian, a native of that city, having ob- 
tained a patent from Henry VII., sailed un- 
der his flag and discovered the main conti- 
nent of America, amid the inhospitable rigors 
of the wintry North. It was more than a 
year subsequent, thai Columbus, in his third 
voyage, set his foot on the mam land of the 
South. [1498. J Sebastian Cabot again cross- 
ed the Atlantic, and coasted from the 58th 
degree of North latitude, along the shores of 
the United States, perhaps as far as to the 
Southern boundary of Maryland. 



Portuguese, French and Spanish naviga- 
tors now visited North America, with what 
motives, adventures and success, it is not 
necessary to relate here. [1583.] Sir Hum- 
phrey Gilbert, commissioned by Queen Eliz- 
abeth and assisted by his half-brother, Wal- 
ter Raleigh, fitted out a small fleet and made 
a voyage to Newfoundland, where he landed 
and took formal possession of the country. 
This intrepid navigator embarking to return 
in the Squirrel, a vessel of only ten tons, was 
lost in a storm. When last seen by the com- 
pany of the Hind, Sir Humphrey, although 
surrounded by imminent perils, was seated 
calmly on deck, with a book in his hand, and 
was heard to exclaim, " Be of good cheer, 
my friends, it is as near to Heaven by sea as 
by land." 

Not daunted by the fate of his heroic kins- 
man, Raleigh persisted in the design of ef- 
fecting a settlement in America, and being 
now high in the Queen's favor, obtained let- 
ters patent for that purpose, dated March 2.3th, 
1584. Aided by some gentlemen and mer- 
chants, particularly by his gallant kinsmen, 
Sir Richard Grenville, and Mr. William San- 
derson who had married his niece. Raleigh 
succeeded in providing two small vessels. 
These were put under command of Captains 
Philip Amidas and Arthur Barlow. Barlow 
had already served with distinction under 
Raleigh in Ireland. The two vessels left the 
Thames on the 27th v of April, 1584. Pursu- 
ing the old circuitous route by the Canaries, 
they reached the West Indies. After a shorl 
stay there, they sailed North, and early in 
July, as they approached the coast of Florida, 
the mariners were regaled with the odors of 
a thousand flowers wafted from the fragrant 
shore. Amidas and Barlow, passing one 
hundred and twenty miles farther, landed on 
the island of Wococon, ' in the stormy re- 



■ See in " Memorials of North Carolina," by .1 Seawell 
Jones, a graphic description "I ibis island, and of the cir- 
cumstances of the landing there. This writer, v\ ho evinces 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. I. 



gion of Cape Hatteras, one of a long series 
of narrow, low, sandy islands, which seem 
like breast-works to defend the main land 
from the fury of the ocean. The English 
took possession of the country in the Queen's 
name. The valleys were wooded with tall 
cedars, overrun with vines hung in rich fes- 
toons, the grapes clustering in profusion on 
the ground and trailing in the sea. For two 
days no inhabitant was seen ; on the third a 
canoe with three men approached. One of 
them was readily persuaded to come aboard, 
when some presents gained his confidence. 
Going away he began to fish, and having load- 
ed his canoe returned, and dividing his cargo 
into two parts, signified that one was for the 
ship, the other for the pinnace. On the next 
day they received a visit from some canoes, 
in which were forty or fifty men, amongst 
whom was Granganameo, the King's brother. 
The King, Wingina, himself lay at his chief 
town, six miles distant, confined by severe 
wounds received in a recent battle. Here 
the English were hospitably entertained by 
the wife of Granganameo. She was small, 
pretty and bashful, clothed in a leathern man- 
tle with the fur turned in ; her long black hair 
was restrained by a band of white coral ; 
strings of pearl hung from her ears and reach- 
ed to her waist. The disposition of the na- 
tives seemed gentle, their manners easy ; pres- 
ents and tralfic soon conciliated their good 
will. The country was called Wingandacoa; 
the soil was found rich; the air mild and sa- 
lubrious; the forests abounded with a variety 
of " sweet-smelling trees" and oaks superior 
in size to those of England. Fruits, melons, 
nuts and esculent roots were observed ; the 
woods were stocked with game and the wa- 
ters with innumerable fish and wild fowl. 
Alter having examined as much of the inte- 
rior as their time would permit, Amidas and 
Barlow sailed homeward, accompanied by 
two of the natives, Manteo and VVanchese. 
Queen Elizabeth, charmed with the glowing 
descriptions of the new country, which the 
enthusiastic adventurers gaye her on their 
return, named it, in allusion to her own state 

a fine genius, vindicates Ins native Slate, against what he 
conceived to be the unjust, and arrogant claims of Virginia. 
His argument would have lost none of its force by the omis- 
sion <>i the splenetic and invidious remarks in which he 
indulges. There is no real ground ol jealousy between 
thesetwo States. The recollections of Sir Walter Raleigh's 
Colony belong equally to both. 



of life, Virginia. * Raleigh was shortly af- 
ter returned to parliament from the county of 
Devon and about the same period knighted. 
The Queen granted him also a patent to li- 
cense the vending of wines throughout the 
kingdom. Such a monopoly was part of the 
arbitrary system of that day. Nor was Sir 
Walter unconscious of its injustice, for when 
some years afterwards a spirit of resistance 
to it showed itself in the House of Commons, 
and a member was warmly inveighing against 
it, Sir Walter was observed to blush. Yet 
he voted for the abolition of such monopo- 
lies, and no one could have made a more 
munificent use of such emoluments, than he 
did in carrying out his grand schemes of the 
discovery and colonization of Virginia. 

[1585.] He fitted out a fleet of seven ves- 
sels for that country, and entrusted the com- 
mand of it to his relative, Sir Richard Gren- 
ville. This gallant officer had, like the cele- 
brated Cervantes, shared in the famous battle 
of Lepanto, and after distinguishing himself 
by his conduct during the Irish rebellion, 
had become a conspicuous member of par- 
liament. Grenville was accompanied by 
Thomas Candish, or Cavendish, afterwards 
renowned as a circumnavigator of the globe — 
Thomas Hariot, a friend of Raleigh and a pro- 
found mathematician, and John With, an ar- 
tist, whose pencil supplied materials for the 
illustration of the works of De Bry and Bev- 
erley. On the 26th of June, the fleet anchor- 
ed at Wococon, but the navigation there being 
found too perilous, they proceeded through 
Ocracock inlet to the island of Roanoke, 
(at the mouth of Albemarle Sound,) which 
they selected as the seat of the Colony. The 
colonists one hundred and eight in number 
were landed. Manteo, who had returned with 
them, had already been sent from Wococon, 
to announce their arrival to his king, Win- 
gina. Grenville, accompanied by Lane, Ha- 
riot, Cavendish and others, explored the coast 
for eighty miles southward, to the town of 
Secotan, in the present county of Craven, 

♦ Stub's History of Virginia, 11. Tytler's Life of Sir 
Walter Raleigh: Edit, in Greenbank's Periodical Lib. 
Bancroft's History of the United States, 1 cap. 1,2,3. 
Beverley's History of Virginia, B. 1, p. 2. Smith's His- 
tory of Virginia, B. 1, p. 79-85. Early History of Rhode 
Island, 179-181. 

Maz/.ei's account of the early settlement of Virginia in 
tin 1 commencement of Ins Recherches sur les Etats-Unis 
abounds in errors. Yet this work was written expressly 
for the purpose of correcting the errors of other writers. 



1585.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



5 



North Carolina. During this excursion, the: 
Indians at a village called Aquascogoc, stole 
a silver cup. A boat being despatched to 
reclaim it, the astonished inhabitants fled to 
the woods, and the English, regardless at 
once of the dictates of prudence and human- 
ity, burnt the town and destroyed the stand- 
ing corn. Grenville in a short time re-em- 
barked for England with a valuable cargo of 
skins and furs, and on his voyage captured a 
rich Spanish prize. 

Lane now extended his discoveries to the 
Northward, as far as the town of Chesapeakes, 
on Elizabeth river, near where Norfolk now 
stands, and about one hundred and thirty 
miles from the island of Roanoke. The 
Chowan river was also explored, and a voyage 
was made up the Roanoke, then known as 
the Moratoc. Lane, although a good soldier, 
seems to have wanted some of the qualities 
indispensable in the founder of a new plan- 
tation. The Indians grew more hostile, con- 
spiracies were entered into for ihe destruc- 
tion of the whites, and the rash and bloody 
measures employed to defeat their machina- 
tions, only aggravated the mischief. The 
colonists, filled with alarm, became impatient 
to escape from a scene of so many privations 
and so much danger. In this critical junc- 
ture, Sir Francis Drake arrived with a fleet 
of twenty-three sail. This celebrated navi- 
gator, returning from a long cruise, in part 
privateering, in part exploring, anchored near 
Roanoke, to enquire into the welfare of the 
plantation of his friend, Sir Walter Raleigh. 
Drake furnished Lane with vessels and sup- 
plies amply sufficient to complete the dis- 
covery of the country and to ensure a safe 
return home, should that alternative be found 
necessary. A violent storm raging for four 
days, dispersed and shattered Drake's lleet 
and destroyed the vessels that had been as- 
signed to Lane. The tempest at length sub- 
siding, Drake generously offered Lane ano- 
ther ship, with supplies. But the governor, 
acquiescing in the unanimous desire of the 
colonists, requested permission for them all 
to embark in the fleet and return to England. 

The request Was granted, and thus ended the 
first actual settlement of the English in Ame- 
rica. 

During the year which the Colony had 
passed at Roanoke. Willi had made drawings 
from nature illustrative of the appearance 



and habits of the natives. Hariot had accu- 
rately observed the soil and productions of 
tin; country, an account of which he after- 
\\ ard • published.* He, Lane, and some other 
of the Colonists had learned from the In- 
dians the use of a narcotic plant, called by 
them Uppowoc, by the Europeans, tobacco. 
The natives smoked it ; sprinkled the dust of 
it on their fishing weirs, to make them fortu- 
nate ; burnt it in sacrifices to appease the an- 
ger of the gods, and scattered it in the air and 
on the water, to allay the fury of the tem- 
pest. Lane carried back some tobacco to 
England, supposed to be the first ever intro- 
duced into that kingdom. t Sir Walter Ra- 
leigh by his example soon rendered the use 
of this seductive leaf fashionable at court. 
His tobacco-box and pipes were long pre- 
served in England by the curiosity of anti- 
quaries. It is related that he made a wager 
with the Queen, that he could calculate the 
weight of the smoke evaporated from a pipe- 
full of tobacco. This he easily won, by first 
weighing the tobacco and then the ashes, 
when the queen agreed, that the difference 
must have gone off in smoke. Upon paying 
the guineas, Elizabeth gaily remarked, that 
" she had heard of many workers in the fire, 
that had turned their gold into smoke, but 
that Sir Walter was the first that had turned 
his smoke into gold." Another anecdote is, 
that a country servant of Raleigh's bringing 
him a tankard of ale and nut meg into his 
study, as he was intently reading and smo- 
king, was so alarmed ;il seeing clouds of 
smoke issuing from his master's mouth, that 
he ran down stairs, crying out that Sir Wal- 
ter was on lire. 

Sir Walter Raleigh never visited Virginia, 
although it has been so represented by sev- 
eral writers. Had he in person undertaken 
the plantation of the Colony, it would proba- 
bly have been managed with more prudence 
and crowned with better success. 

Drake's lleet had hardly lost sight of the 
coast before a vessel arrived at Roanoke with 
supplies for the Colony. Finding it aban- 
doned she sailed for England. 

Within a fortnight after, Sir Richard Gren- 
ville, with three relief vessels, fitted outprin- 

* " A True Report of the New-foundland of Virginia." 
The name "t the author is properly Heriot, but II, mot is 
more commonly used. 

t Seo Mrs. Thompson's Life of Raleigh, in Appendix. 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. I. 



cipally by Raleigh, arrived off Virginia. Gren- 
ville unwilling that the English should lose 
possession of the country, left fifteen men on 
the island of Roanoke with provisions for 
two years. 

No disappointment could abate the in- 
domitable resolution of Raleigh. During the 
ensuing year, 1587, he sent out a new expe- 
dition of three vessels, to establish a Colony, 
which he chartered by the name of " The 
Governor and assistants of the city of Ra- 
leigh in Virginia.' John White was sent 
out as Governor with twelve counsellors, and 
they were directed to establish themselves 
at the town of Chesapeakes, on Elizabeth 
River.* Arriving at Roanoke near the end of 
July, White found the Colony deserted, hu- 
man bones scattered on the beach, the fort 
rased, and deer couching in the ruinous 
cabins, or feeding on the vegetation which 
had overgrown the floor and crept up the 
walls. 

Raleigh's judicious order, instructing White 
to plant the Colony on the banks of Eliza- 
beth river, was not carried into effect, owing 
to the refusal of Ferdinando, the naval offi- 
cer, to assist in exploring the country for that 
purpose. An English sailor being slain by 
the savages, a party was despatched to avenge 
his death, and by mistake unfortunately killed 
several of a friendly tribe. Manteo, by Ra- 
leigh's direction, was christened and created 
Lord of Roanukc and Dassamonpeake. On 
the 18th of August, the governor's daughter, 
Eleanor, wife to Ananias Dare, one of the 
council, gave birth to a daughter, the first 
christian child born in the country, and hence 
named Virginia. Dissensions now arose 
among the settlers, and although they were 
not in want of stores, some demanded per- 
mission to go home ; others violently op- 
posed : at last, however, all joined iii request- 
ing the governor to sail for England and re- 
turn with supplies. To this he reluctantly 
consented, and leaving Roanoke on the 27th 
of August, lf)X7, where he left eighty-nine 
men, seventeen women and eleven children, 
he arrived in England on the 5th of Novem- 
ber. I le found the kingdom wholly engross- 
ed in taking measures of defence against the 
threatened invasion of the Spanish Armada. 
Raleigh, Grenville, and Lane, were assisting 



* Stith, 23. Tytler's Raleigh, 'S3. 
Bancroft's Hist. U. S. 1., cap. .1- 



OUy's R..lci-h, 74. 



Elizabeth in her council of war. The con- 
juncture was most unpropitious to the inter- 
ests of the infant Colony. Raleigh never- 
theless found time even in this portentous 
crisis of public affairs to despatch White with 
supplies in two vessels. But the company, 
running after prizes, encountered privateers, 
and after a bloody engagement, White's ves- 
sels were so disabled and plundered as to be 
obliged to put back to England, whilst it was 
impossible to refit, owing to the urgency of 
more important matters. 

But even after the destruction of the Ar- 
mada, Sir Walter Raleigh found it impracti- 
cable to prosecute any further his favorite de- 
sign of establishing a Colony in Virginia. 
[1589.] He formed a company of merchants 
and adventurers and assigned to it his pro- 
prietary rights.* In this company were 
Thomas Smith a wealthy London merchant, 
afterwards knighted, and Richard Hakluyt, 
Dean of Westminster, and the compiler of 
a celebrated collection of voyages. Raleigh, 
at the time of making this assignment, gave 
a hundred pounds for propagating Christian- 
ity among the natives of Virginia. After ex- 
periencing a long series of vexations, difficul- 
ties and disappointments, he had expended 
forty thousand pounds in efforts for planting 
a Colony in America. At length disengaged 
from this enterprise, he indulged his martial 
genius, and bent all his energies against the 
colossal ambition of Spain, who now aspired 
to overshadow the world. 

More than another year was suffered to 
elapse, before While returned to search for 
the long neglected Colony. He had now 
been absent from it for three years, and felt 
the solicitude not only of a governor, but also 
of a parent. Upon his departure from Roa- 
noke, it had been concerted between him and 
the settlers, thai if they should abandon that 
island for another seat, they should carve the 
name of the place to which they should re- 
move, on some conspicuous object, and if 
they went away in distress, a cross should be 
carved above the name. Upon his arrival at 
Roanoke, White found not one of the Colo- 
nists: — the houses had been dismantled and 



* " Lo Colonel Richard Bland dans sa dissertation pi cine 
ilc sens et d'erudilion, sur los droits des Colonies, impri- 
mee en Virginie en 1766, dil que Raleigh renonca a ses 

droits et nc parle d' :une exception." Recherches sur 

les Etats-Unis, (by Mazzei,) v. 1., p. 9. 



1591.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



a fort erected ; goods had been buried in the 
earth and in part disinterred and scattered ; — 
on a post within the tort the word croa- 
tan was carved without, however, a cross 
above it. 

The weather proving stormy, seven of the 
company were lost by the capsizing of a boat, 
the stock of provisions grew short, and no 
further search was then made for the unfor- 
tunate Colonists. None of them ever was 
found, and whether they perished by famine 
or by the Indian tomahawk, was left a subject 
of mournful conjecture. The site of the Col- 
ony was unfortunate, being difficult of access 
and near the stormy Cape Hatteras, whose 
very name is synonymous with danger and 
shipwreck. Thus after many nobly planned 
but unhappily conducted expeditions, and 
enormous expense of life and treasure, the 
first plantation of Virginia became extinct. 

[1591.] Sir Richard Grenville fell in a 
bloody action with a Spanish fleet near the 
Azores. Mortally wounded, he was removed 
on board one of the enemy's ships and in 
two days died. In the hour of his death, he 
said in the Spanish language to those around 
him : — " Here I, Richard Grenville, die with 
a joyous and quiet mind, for that I have ended 
my life as a true soldier ought to do, fighting 
for his country, queen, religion and honor, 
my soul willingly departing from this body, 
leaving behind the lasting fame of having be- 
haved as every valiant soldier is in his duty 
bound to do."* This gallant knight was next 
to his kinsman, Sir Walter Raleigh, the prin- 
cipal person concerned in the first settlement 
of Virginia.! 



CHAPTER II. 
1591—1604. 

Gosnold's Voyage to New England ; Early Life and Ad- 
ventures of Captain John Smith ; Born at Willoughby ; 
At thirteen years of age undertakes to go to sea; At fif- 
teen apprentice to a merchant ; Visits France ; Studies 



* Camden, quoted by Barrow in his Life of Sir Francis 
Drake, 169. The dying words of Grenville may recall to 
mind those of Campbell's Lochiel : 

" And leaving in death no blot on my name, 

Look proudly to heaven from a death-bed of fame." 

t Stith's Hist, of Va., 29. Tytler's Raleigh, 18. 



the military art; Serves in the Low countries; Repairs 
to Scotland ; Returns to Willoughby ; Studies and exer- 
cises ; adventures in France ; Embarks for Italy ; Thrown 
into the sea ; His escape ; Joins the Austrians in the 
war with the Turks; His gallantry ; Combat with three 
Turks; Made prisoner at Rottenton ; His sufferings and 
escape ; Voyages and Travels ; Returns to England. 

[1602.] Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, 
deviating from the oblique route by the Ca- 
naries and the West Indies, made a direct 
voyage in a small bark across the Atlantic, 
and in seven weeks reached Massachusetts 
Bay. It was on this occasion, that English- 
men for the first time landed on the soil of 
New England. Gosnold returned to Eng- 
land in a short passage of five weeks. In 
these early voyages, the heroism of the navi- 
gators is the more admirable, when we advert 
to the extremely small burthen of their ves- 
sels and the imperfection of nautical science 
at that day. 

[1606.] Measures were taken in England 
for planting another Colony, But prelimi- 
nary to a relation of the settlement of Vir- 
ginia proper, it is necessary to give some his- 
tory of Captain John Smith, "the father of 
the Colony." 

He was born at Willoughby in Lincoln- 
shire, England, in 1579, being descended, on 
his father's side, from an ancient family of 
Crudley, in Lancashire, on his mother's, from 
the Rickands at Great Heck, in Yorkshire.* 
He was educated at the free schools of Al- 
ford and Louth. At the age of thirteen, his 
mind being bent upon bold adventures, he 
sold his satchel, books and all he had, intend- 
ing to go privately to sea. His father's death 
occurring just then, prevented the execution 
of that scheme. Havingbeforelost his mother, 
he was now left an orphan with a competent 
estate, which, however, being too young to 
receive, he little regarded. At fifteen he was 
bound apprentice to Thomas Scndall of Linn, 
" the greatest merchant of all those parts." 
But in a little time, disgusted with the mo- 
notony of that life, he quit it and accompa- 
nied a son of Kunl Willoughby to France. 
There he began to learn the military art, ami 
afterwards served some years in the Low coun- 
tries. Thence he embarked for Scotland, 
with letters recommending him to the notice 

* Smith's Hist, of Va. I., 1-54. "The Trve Travclls, 
Adventures and Observations of Captaine lohn Smith." 
Hillard's Life of Smith in Sparks' American Biography. 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. II. 



of King James VI. After suffering illness 
and shipwreck, Smith reached Scotland ; but 
finding himself without money or means ne- 
cessary to make himself a courtier, he return- 
ed to his native place, Willoughby. There, 
indulging a romantic taste, he built for him- 
self a lodge in a neighboring forest, where 
he studied military history and tactics, and 
amused his leisure with hunting and horse- 
manship. In this retreat he was visited by 
an Italian gentleman in the service of the 
Earl of Lincoln, who persuaded him to re- 
turn into the world, and he now repaired 
once more to the Low countries. Having 
made himself master of horsemanship and 
the use of arms, Smith resolved to try his for- 
tune against the Turks. Proceeding to St. 
Valery, in France, his trunks were plundered 
by some French gallants, and he was forced 
to sell his cloak to pay his passage. Wan- 
dering in France he experienced extraordi- 
nary vicissitudes of fortune. Walking one 
day in a forest, worn out with distress and 
fatigue, he fell prostrate on the ground by the 
side of a fountain, scarcely hoping ever to 
rise again. Found in this condition by a 
humane farmer, his necessities were relieved 
and he was enabled to pursue his journey. 
At another time he met in a grove one of the 
Frenchmen who had robbed him. Without 
a word on either side they drew their swords 
and fought. The Frenchman soon fell, but 
confessing his guilt, Smith, though hurt in 
the rencontre, spared his life. 

Aided by the liberality of a former ac- 
quaintance, "the Earl of Ployer," he went to 
Marseilles and embarked in a vessel crowded 
with pilgrims bound for Rome. On the voy- 
age, the weather proving stormy, the pil- 
grims, with bitter imprecations against Queen 
Elizabeth and Smith, cast him as a heretic 
into the sea, in order to propitiate Heaven. 
He saved himself by swimming to the islet of 
St. Mary, (opposite Nice, in Savoy,) which 
he found inhabited only by a few cattle and 
goals. On the next day he was taken up by 
a French ship, the Captain of which proving 
to be a friend of " the Earl of Ployer," en- 
tertained him kindly. With him Smith vis- 
ited Alexandria in Egypt, Scanderoon, the 
Archipelago, and coast of Greece. During 
the cruise, a Venetian argosy was captured 
alter a desperate action, in which Smith dis- 
played signal courage. He landed in Pied- 



mont with five hundred sequins and a box of 
jewels, his share of the prize. In Italy he 
met with Lord Willoughby and his brother, 
both recently wounded in a duel. At Rome 
he saw the Pope, and surveyed the wonders 
of the imperial city. Embarking at Venice, 
he crossed over to the wild regions of Alba- 
nia and Dalmatia. Visiting next Gratz, in 
Styria, he met there the archduke Ferdinand, 
and joining a German regiment, engaged in 
the war with the Turks. At the siege of Olym- 
pack and of Stowle Wessenburg, in 1601, 
Smith distinguished himself as a volunteer 
in the artillery service. For his good con- 
duct he was put in command of two hun- 
dred and fifty horse under Count Meldritch. 
In the Battle of Girke he had a horse killed 
under him, and was badly wounded. At the 
siege of Regal he encountered and slew in 
a tournament three several Turkish champi- 
ons, Turbashaw, Grualgo, and Bonny Mul- 
gro. For these exploits he was honored 
with a triumphal procession, in which the 
three Turks' heads were borne on lances. 
A horse richly caparisoned was presented to 
him with a cimeter and belt worth three hun- 
dred ducats, and he was promoted to the 
rank of Major. In the bloody battle of Rot- 
tenton he was wounded and made prisoner. 
With such of the prisoners as escaped mas- 
sacre, he was sold into slavery at Axiopolis 
and fell into the hands of the Bashaw Bogall, 
who sent him by way of Adrianople to Con- 
stantinople, a present to his youthful mis- 
tress, Charatza Tragabigzanda. Captivated 
with her prisoner, she treated him tenderly, 
and to prevent his being sold again, sent him 
to remain for a time with her brother, the 
Tymour Bashaw of Nalbritz, in Tartary. He 
occupied a stone castle near the sea of Azof. 
Immediately on Smith's arrival his head was 
shaved, an iron collar rivetted on his neck, 
and he was clothed in hair-cloth. Here long 
he suffered cruel bondage. At length one 
day while threshing in a barn, the Bashaw 
having cruelly beaten and reviled him, he 
turned and slew him on the spot with the 
threshing bat, then put on his clothes, hid 
his body in the straw, filled a sack with corn, 
closed the doors, mounted the Bashaw's horse 
.mil rode oil'. After wandering for some days 
he fell in with a highway, and observing that 
the roads leading towards Russia were indi- 
cated by a cross, he followed that sign, and 



1604-7.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



9 



in sixteen days reached Ecopolis, a Russian 
frontier post on the Don. The governor there 
took off his irons, and lie was kindly treated 
by him and the lady Callamata. Passing 
through Russia and Poland, he returned to 
Transylvania, in December, 1G03. Here he 
met many friends and enjoyed so much hap- 
piness, that nothing less than his desire to 
revisit his native country could have torn him 
away. Proceeding through Hungary, Mora- 
via and Bohemia, he went to Leipsic, where 
he found Prince Sigismund, who gave him 
fifteen hundred golden ducats to repair his 
losses. Travelling through Germany, France 
and Spain, from Gibraltar he sailed for Tan- 
gier, in Africa, and to the city of Morocco. 
Taking passage in a French man-of-war, he 
was present in a terrible sea-fight with two 
Spanish ships, and after touching at Santa 
Cruz, Cape Goa and Mogadore, he finally 
returned to England about the year 1604. 



CHAPTER III. 

1604—1607. 

Gosnold, Smith and others set on foot another expedition ; 
James I. issues Letters patent; Instructions for govern- 
ment of the Colony ; Charter granted to London Com- 
pany for First Colony of Virginia; Sir Thomas Smith 
Treasurer ; Government of the Colony ; Three vessels 
under Newport sail for Virginia; The voyage; Enter 
Chesapeake Bay; Ascend the James river; The Eng- 
lish entertained by the Chief of the Quiyoughcohanocks ; 
Landing at Jamestown ; VVhigfield President ; Smith ex- 
cluded from the council. 

Bartholomew Gosnold was the prime mo- 
ver, and Captain John Smith the chief actor in 
the settlement of Virginia. Gosnold, * who 
had already made a voyage to New England, 
in 1602, for many years fruitlessly labored to 
set on foot an expedition for that purpose. 
At length he was reinforced in his efforts by 
Captain Smith, Edward Maria Wingfield, a 
merchant, Robert Hunt, a clergyman, and 
other-, and by their united exertions, certain 
of the nobility, gentry and merchants be- 
came interested in the project, and King 
James the first, who, in 1603, had succeeded 
Elizabeth, was induced to lend it his coun- 
tenance, t 

* Stith, 30. 

t Smith, Vol. I, p. 149. 



ipril 10th, 1606, letters patent, were is- 
sued authorizing the establishment of two 
Colonies in Virginia and other parts of Amer- 
ica. All the country from 34 to 45 degrees 
of North latitude, then known as Virginia, 
was divided into two colonies, the first, or 
Southern, and the second, or Northern. The 
Southern colony was appropriated to Lon- 
don, and the plantation of it was entrusted 
to Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Somcrs, 
knights, Richard Hackluyt clerk, prebendary 
of Westminster, Edward Maria Wingfield 
and gome others. It was provided that the 
Colony should have a council of its own, 
subject to a superior council in England. 
The inferior council was authorized to search 
for and dig mines, coin money, carry over 
adventurers and repel intruders. Revenue 
duties were imposed, the colonists invested 
with the privileges of English subjects, and 
the lands granted to settlers in free and com- 
mon soccage. * On the 20th of November, 
1606, instructions were given by the Crown 
for the government of the two Colonies, di- 
recting that the council in England should be 
appointed by the Crowd, the local council by 
the superior one in England, the local council 
to choose a President annually from its own 
body, the Christian religion to be preached, 
lands to descend as in England, the trial by 
jury secured in criminal causes, and the coun- 
cil empowered to determine all civil actions, 
all produce and goods imported to be stored 
in magazines, a clerk and treasurer, or Cape 
Merchant to be appointed for the colony. 
The stockholders, styled adventurers, were 
authorized to organize a company for the 
management, of the business of the colony, 
and to superintend the proceedings of the 
local council. The Colonists were enjoined 
to treat the natives with kindness, and to 
endeavor by till means to convert them to 
Christianity. t March 9th, 1607, the gen- 
eral conned was enlarged and further in- 
structions given for its government. May 
23rd, a charter was granted to the treasurer 
and company of adventurers for the city 
of London for the first Colonj of Virginia. 
To thi^ companj was granted all the land in 
that part of America called Virginia, from 
Point Comfort along from the sea-coasl to 
■ orthward two hundred miles, and to 

* llening's Statutes al Large, Vol. I, p. - r 'T. 
j 1 Hi i. . 67. Stith 30, and Appendix 2. 



10 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. III. 



the Southward two hundred miles up into 
the land from sea to sea West and North- 
west. The council in England was authori- 
zed to establish forms of government for the 
Colony, and the governor was empowered, in 
case of rebellion, or mutiny, to enforce mar- 
tial law, and the oath of supremacy was re- 
quired to be taken by the Colonists. For 
the rest, the provisions of the letters patent 
granted to Sir Thomas Gates were generally 
re-enacted. * Sir Thomas Smith was ap- 
pointed Treasurer of the company in Eng- 
land, and the chief management of their af- 
fairs was entrusted to him. He was an emi- 
nent London merchant, had been chief of 
Sir Walter Raleigh's assignees, was about 
this time governor of the East India Com- 
pany, and had been ambassador to Russia, t 

The frame of government provided for the 
new Colony was cumbrous and complicated. 
The legislative and administrative powers were 
so distributed between the local council, the 
Crown and the company, as to involve de- 
lay, uncertainty, conflict and irresponsibility. 
The Colonists, by the words of the charter, 
were invested with the rights of English- 
men ; yet as far as political rights were con- 
cerned, there being no security provided by 
which they could be vindicated, they might 
often prove to be of no more real value than 
the parchment on which they were written. 
Yet the government of an infant colony must 
of necessity be for the most part arbitrary. 
The political rights of the colonists must for 
a time lie in abeyance. The civil rights of 
the Virginia colonists were protected by the 
trial by .jury, and lands were held by a free 
tenure. 

After long delay three vessels were equip- 
ped for the expedition, one of twenty tons, 
one of forty, the third of one hundred. They 
were commanded by Captain Christopher 
Newport, a navigator experienced in voyages 
to the New world. Orders were put on board, 
enclosed in a sealed box, not to be opened 
until their arrival in Virginia. They sel sad 
on the 19th of December, 1606, from Black- 
wall. For six weeks head-winds detained 
them in the Downs, within view of the Eng- 
lish coast. During this interval, disorder 
threatening a mutiny, prevailed among the 
adventurers. However it was suppressed by 

* Stit.h, Appendix 8. I lieu., ?<i. 
f Stith, 12. 



the interposition of the clergyman, Mr. Hunt. 
The winds at length proving favorable, the 
little fleet proceeded along the old route, by 
the Canaries, to the West Indies, and after 
passing three weeks there, sailed in quest of 
the island of Roanoke. Having exceeded 
their reckoning three days, without finding 
land, the crew grew impatient, and Ratclitfe, 
captain of the pinnace, proposed to steer 
back for England. At this conjuncture, a 
violent storm providentially drove them into 
the mouth of Chesapeake bay. The first 
land they came in sight of, April 26, 1607, 
they called Cape Henry, in honor of the 
prince of Wales, eldest son of king James.* 
A party of thirty landing, found "flowers of 
divers kinds and colors and goodly trees." 
While recreating themselves on the shore, 
they were assaulted by five of the savages, 
who came " creeping upon all fours from the 
hills, like bears,'' and wounded two, but re- 
tired at the discharge of muskets, t 

That night the sealed box was opened, 
when it appeared that the members of coun- 
cil appointed, were Bartholomew Gosnold, 
John Smith, Edward Maria Wingfield, Chris- 
topher Newport, John Ratcliffe, John Martin 
and George Kendall. They were instructed 
to elect out of their own number a president 
for one year. He and the council together 
were invested with the government. Affairs 
of moment were to be examined by a jury, 
but determined by the council. 

Seventeen days were spent in quest of a 
place for the settlement. A point, at the en- 
trance of the Chesapeake bay, they named 
Point Comfort, because they found a good 
harbor there, which, after the late storm, 
" put them in good comfort." Landing there 
April 30th, they saw live Indians, who were 
at first alarmed, hut seeing Captain Newport 
lay his hand upon his heart, they came bold- 
ly up and invited the strangers to [Cecough- 
tan (Hampton) their town. There the Eng- 
lish were entertained with corn-bread, tobacco 
and pipes and a dance. May 4th, they were 
kindly received by the Paspaheghs. The 

* Smith, vol. 1, p. 151. Capo Charles was called after 
the King's second son, then Duke of York, afterwards 
Charles I. 

t \anati\r (in t Purchas' Pilgrims, p. 1685.) by George 
Percy, brother of the Earl of Northumberland and one of 
the first expedition. See Hillard's Life of Smith, in Sparks' 
Amer. Biog. 211 and 21 1, in note. Hillard in the mam fol- 
lows Stilh. 



1607.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



11 



chief of a neighboring tribe * sent a guide 
to conduct them to his habitation, and stood 
on the bunk of the river to meet them when 
they landed, " with all his train," (says Per- 
cy,) " as goodly men as any I have seen oi 
savages or Christians, the Werowance t com- 
ing before them playing on a flute made of 
a reed, with a crown of deer's hair, colored 
red, in fashion of a rose, fastened about his 
knot of hair, and a great plate of copper on 
the other side of his head, with two long 
feathers, in fashion of a pair of horns, placed 
in the midst of his crown. His body was 
painted all with crimson, with a chain ol 
beads about his neck ; his face painted blue, 
besprinkled with silver ore, as we thought; 
his ears all behung with bracelets of pearl 
and in either ear a bird's claw through it, 
beset with fine copper or gold. He enter- 
tained us in so modest a proud fashion, as 
though he had been a prince of civil govern- 
ment, holding his countenance without laugh- 
ter or any such ill behavior. He caused his 
mat to be spread on the ground, where he 
sate down with a great majesty, taking a pipe 
of tobacco, the rest of his company standing 
about him. After he had rested awhile, he 
rose and made signs to us to come to his 
town. He went foremost and all the rest of 
his people and ourselves followed him up a 
steep hill, where his palace was settled. We 
passed through the woods in fine paths, hav- 
ing most pleasant springs, which issued from 
the mountains. We also went through the 
goodliest corn-fields that ever were seen in 
any country. When we came to Rappo- 
hanna town he entertained us in good hu- 
manity." 

When this hospitable, unsophisticated chief 
was piping a welcome to the English, how 
little did he anticipate the scenes which were 
to ensue ! 

On the 8th of May, they went further up 
the river to the country of the Appomattocks, 
who came forth to meet them " with bows 
and arrows in a most warlike manner, with 
the swords at their backs, beset with sharp 
stones and pieces of iron able to cleave a 



* Called by IVrcy, in liis Narrative, Rappahannas, bul 
as no sueh tribe is mentioned by Smith as being found near 
the James river, they were probably the Quiyoughcoha- 
nocks, who dwelt on the North side of the river, about ten 
miles above Jamestown. — Smith, vol. 1 , p. 140-1. 

t Chief. 



man in sunder." The English making signs 
of peace, were suffered to land unmolested.* 

At length they selected for the site of the 
Colony, a peninsula on the North side of the 
James river and about forty miles from its 
mouth. In honor of the reigning king, they 
named it Jamestown. It belonged to the 
country of the Paspaheghs. The situation 
eligible in some points, was, however, ex- 
tremely unhealthy. They landed at James- 
town on the 13th day of May, lb'07. This 
was the first permanent settlement effected 
by the English in North America, after the 
lapse of one hundred and ten years from the 
discovery of the Continent by the Cabots, 
and twenty-two years after the first attempt 
to colonize it, made under the auspices of 
Walter Raleigh. 

Upon landing, the council took the oath 
of office ; Edward Maria Wingfield, a Lon- 
don merchant, t was elected President, — the 
first executive officer in Virginia. Thomas 
Studley was made cape merchant or treas- 
urer of the Colony. Smith was excluded 
from his seat in the council, upon some false 
pretences. 



CHAPTER IV. 

1(307—1608. 

Newport and Smith with a party explore the James to the 
Falls; Powhatan; Jamestown assaulted by Indians; 
Smith's Voyages up the Chickahominy ; Murmurs against 
him; Again explores the Chickahominy ; Made pris- 
oner; Carried captive through the country; Taken to 
Werowocomoco ; Rescued by Pocahontas; Returns to 
Jamestown; Fire there; Rage for gold-hunting ; New- 
port visits Powhatan ; Newport's departure ; Affairs at 
Jamestown. 

All hands now fell to work; the council 
planning a fort, the rest clearing ground for 
pitching tents, preparing clapboard for freight- 
ing the vessels, laying off gardens, weaving 
fish-nets, &c. 

The Indians frequently visited them in a 
friendly way. The President's overweening 
jealousy would allow no military exercise or 
fortification, save the boughs of tree.-', thrown 
together in a hall-moon, by the < nergy of Cap- 

• Percy's Narrative. 

t Hillard's Life ol Smith. 2 Sparks' Amer. Bio 



12 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. IV. 



tain Kendall. April 22nd, Newport, Smith 
and twenty others were despatched to dis- 
cover the head of the river on which they 
were seated, — called by the Indians Powha- 
tan, by the English the James. The natives 
every where received them kindly, dancing 
and feasting them with bread, fish, strawber- 
ries, mulberries, &c, for which Newport re- 
quited them with bells, pins, needles, beads 
and looking-glasses, which so pleased them, 
that they followed the strangers from place 
to place. In six days they reached a town 
called Powhatan, one of the seats of the 
great chief of that name, whom they found 
there. It consisted of twelve wigwams, pleas- 
antly seated on a bold range of hills over- 
looking the river, with three islets in front, 
and many corn fields around. This pictu- 
resque spot lies on the North bank of the 
river, about a mile below the falls, and still 
bears the name of Powhatan. * The party 
visited the falls and erected a cross there, to 
indicate the furtherest point of discovery, t 
Newport presented Powhatan with a gown 
and a hatchet. Upon their return, at Wey- 
anoke, within twenty miles of Jamestown, 
the Indians first gave cause for distrust. Ar- 
riving at Jamestown the next day, they found 
seventeen men, including the greater part of 
the council, wounded and a boy slain by the 
savages. During the assault, a cross-bar shot 
from one of the vessels, struck down a bough 
of a tree amongst them and made them re- 
tire. But for that, all the settlers would prob- 
ably have been massacred, as they were 
planting corn in security without arms. 
Wingfield now consented that ihe fort should 
be palisaded, cannon mounted, and the men 
armed and exercised. The attacks and am- 
buscades of the natives were frequent, and 
the English, by their careless straggling, were 
often wounded, while the fleet-footed sava- 
ges easily escaped. 

Thus the Colonists endured continual hard- 
ships, guarding the workmen by day and 
keeping watch by night. Six weeks being 
thus spent, Newport was now about to re- 
turn to England. Now ever since their de- 
parture from the Canaries, Smith had been 
in a sort of duress upon the scandalous 
charges of some of the leading men in the 

* Siith Hi says, "This place I judge to be eithei Mrs. 
Mayo's 01 Wai i in ;'s plantation." 

t Newes from V irginia, b> Captain John Smith, p. 5 



expedition. Envying his superiority, they 
gave out that he was meditating to usurp 
the government, murder the council and 
make himself king ; that his confederates 
were dispersed in the three vessels, and that 
divers of them who had revealed it, would 
now confirm it. Upon these accusations, 
Smith had been arrested, and had now lain 
for more than three months under these sus- 
picions. Newport being about to embark for 
England, Smith's accusers affected through 
pity to refer him to the council in England, 
rather than overwhelm him on the spot, by 
an exposure of his criminal designs. Smith, 
however, defied their malice, defeated their 
machinations, and so bore himself in the 
whole affair, that all saw his innocency and 
the malignity of his enemies. Those sub- 
orned to accuse him, charged his enemies 
with subornation of perjury. Kendall, the 
chief of them, was adjudged to pay him two 
hundred pounds in damages, which, how- 
ever, Smith at once contributed to the com- 
mon stock of the colony. During these dis- 
putes, Hunt, * the chaplain, used his exer- 
tions to reconcile the parties, and at his in- 
stance. Smith was admitted into the council 
on the 14th day of June, and on the next 
day they all received the communion, t On 
the 16tli, the Indians sued for peace, and on 
the 22nd Newport weighed anchor, leaving 
at Jamestown one hundred settlers with pro- 
vision for more than three months. 

Not long after Newport's departure, a fatal 
sickness began to prevail at Jamestown, en- 
gendered by the insalubrity of the place, and 
the scarcity and bad quality of their food. 
For some time the daily allowance for each 
man was a pint of damaged wheat, or bar- 
ley. " Our drinke was water, and our lodg- 
ings Castles in the a) re." From May to Sep- 
tember fifty persons, or one half of the Col- 
ony, died. The rest subsisted upon sturgeon, 
orcrabs. Wingfield, the President, not con- 
tent with engrossing the public store of pro- 
visions, now undertook to escape from the 
Colony and return to England in the pin- 
nace. Baseness SO extreme aroused the in- 



* This exemplary man never returned to England, but 
how long he survive. 1 m Virginia is not known. Ftis prob- 
able that Ihe first marriage in the colony was solemnized 
by him. Hau Its' Narrative, 22. 



| Smith, Vol. I, p. 153. 



1607.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



13 



dignation even of the emaciated Colonists. 
They deposed Wingfield, and put Captain 
John Ratcliffe in his place Kendall, a con- 
federate of Wingfield, was displaced from 
the council. Among the victims to disease 
was Bartholomew Gosnold, the projector of 
the expedition — a name worthy to be ranked 
with Smith and Raleigh. The sick during 
this calamitous season received the faithful 
attentions of Thomas Wotton, surgeon-gen- 
eral. 

At length their stores were exhausted, 
the sturgeon gone, all effort abandoned, and 
an attack from the savages each moment ex- 
pected, when a benignant Providence put 
it into the hearts of the Indians to supply 
the famished Colony with an abundance of 
fruits and provision. 

Weak minds in trying scenes pay an in- 
voluntary homage to superior genius. Rat- 
clifie, the new President, and Martin, find- 
ing themselves unpopular and incompetent, 
entrusted the helm of affairs to Smith. He 
set the Colonists to work, some to mow, 
others to build houses and thatch them, him- 
self always bearing the heaviest task. Tims 
in a short time habitations were provided for 
the greater part of them. A church was 
built at this time. * 

Smith now embarked in a shallop in quest 
of supplies. Ignorance of the Indian lan- 
guage, want of sails for the boat, and appa- 
rel for the men, and their small force, were 
great impediments, but did not dishearten 
Smith. With a crew of six or seven, he 
went down the river to Kecoughtan, a town 
of eighteen cabins, t Here he replied to a 
scornful defiance by a volley of musketry, and 
capturing their okee, an idol stuffed with 
moss, painted and hung with copper chains, f 
so terrified them, that they brought him a sup- 
ply of venison, turkies, wild-fowl and bread. 
On his return he discovered the town and 
country of Warraskoyack, or Warrasqueake. 
Alter this, in several journeys, he discovered 
the people of Chickahominy river. During 
his absence, Wingfield and Kendall seized 
the pinnace in order to escape to England. 
Put Smith returning unexpectedly, opened 
so hot a fire upon them, as compelled them 



* Stith, vol.1, p. IT". 

-f Newes from \ irginia, p. 6. 

t Smith, vol. I, p 15U. 



to stay or sink. Kendall was tried by a jury, 
convicted and shot-* Not long after, Rat- 
cliffe and Captain Gabriel Archer made a 
similar attempt — and it was foiled by Smith. 

At the approach of winter the risers of 
Virginia abounded with wild-fowl, and the 
English now were well supplied with bread, 
peas, pumpkins, persimmons, fish and game. 
But this plenty did not last long, for what 
Smith carefully provided, the Colonists care- 
lessly wasted. 

The council now began to mutter com- 
plaints against Smith for not discovering the 
source of the Chickahominy. It was sup- 
posed that the South Sea lay not far distant, 
and that a communication with it would be 
found by some river running from the North 
West. The Chickahominy flowed in this di- 
rection, and hence, ludicrous as the idea now 
ap'pears, the anxiety to trace that river to its 
'.< • 1. 

Smith to allay the dissatisfaction of the 
council, made another voyage up that river 
and proceeded until it became necessary, in 
order to pass, to cut away trees which had 
fallen across the stream. When at last the 
barge could advance no farther, he moored 
her in a broad hay out of danger, and leav- 
ing orders to his men not to venture on shore 
until his return, with two of his party and 
two Indians he went higher up in a canoe. 
He had not been long absent before the men 
left in the barge went ashore, when one of 
them George Cassen, was slain by the sava- 
ges. Smith, in the meanwhile, not suspect- 
ing this disaster, reached the marshy ground 
towards the head of the river and went out 
with his gun to provide food for the party. 
During his excursion two of his men, Jehu 
Robinson ami Thomas Entry, were slain, (as 
he supposed,) while sleeping by the canoe. 
Smith was himself attacked by a numerous 
body of Indians, two of whom he killed with 
a pistol. He protected himself from their 

arrows by binding his savage guide to his 
arm with one of his garters and using him as 
a buckler. Many arrows pierced his clothes, 
and some slightly wounded him. Endeavor- 



■ V wi .-: fi m Virginia, p. 7. Hillard in his I 
Smith, p. 228, says — "In i • Kendall was 

slain," t) i it misled hy the expression in i 

" which action cost the life ol Captaine Kendall." lis the 
word " m lion" here Smith intendi il h i ' Ban 

Hillard. 



14 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



Chap. IV. 



ing to reach his canoe, and walking back- 
wards, with his eye still fixed on his pursuers, 
he sunk to his waist in an oozy creek, and 
his savage with him. Nevertheless the In- 
dians were afraid to approach him, until, be- 
ing now half-dead with cold, he threw away 
his arms. Then they drew him forth and led 
him to the fire, where his two companions 
were lying dead. Here they chafed his be- 
numbed limbs, and restored the vital heat. 
Smith now enquiring for their chief, they 
pointed him to Opechancanough, King of 
Pamunkey. Smith presented him a mariner's 
compass; the vibrations of the needle aston- 
ished the untutored sons of the forest. In a 
short time they bound the prisoner to a tree 
and were about to shoot him, when Opechan- 
canough holding up the compass, they all 
laid down their bows and arrows. Then 
marching in single file, they led Smith, guard- 
ed by fifteen men, about six miles to Ora- 
pakes, a hunting town in the upper part of 
Chickahominy Swamp, and about twelve 
miles north-east from the falls of James river. 
This town consisted of thirty or forty houses, 
built like arbors, and covered with mats. The 
women and children came forth to meet them, 
staring in amazement at Smith. * Opechan- 
canough and his followers performed their 
military exercises and joined in the war- 
dance. The captive was confined in a " long 
house," under a guard of forty men. An 
enormous quantity of bread and venison was 
set before him, as if to fatten him for sacri- 
fice, or because they supposed that a supe- 
rior being required a proportionate supply of 
food. An Indian, named Maocassater, who 
had received some toys from Smith at James- 
town, now in return brought him a warm gar- 
ment of fur, — a pleasing instance of grati- 
tude, a sentiment often found even in the 
breast of a savage. Another Indian, whose 
son had been mortally wounded by Smith, 
made an attempl to kill him in revenge and 
was only prevented by the interposition of 
his guards.! Opechancanough now medita- 
ting an assault upon Jamestown, undertook 
t<> entice Smith to join him by oilers of life, 
liberty, land and women. Being now allow- 
ed to send a message to Jamestown, lie wrote 
n note on a leaf of ;i hook, giving informa- 
tion of the intended assault and directing 

i Ni wes from Va., p. 8. 
t Newes from Va., p. 9 



what means should be employed to strike 
terror into the messengers, and what presents 
should be sent. Three men were despatched 
with the note. They returned with an an- 
swer and the presents in three days, notwith- 
standing the rigor of the season, it being the 
midst of the winter of 1607, remarkable for 
its severity t and the ground being covered 
with snow. Opechancanough and his people 
looked upon their captive as some supernat- 
ural being, and were filled with new wonder 
on seeing how the " paper could speake." 
Abandoning the scheme of attacking James- 
town, they conducted Smith through the 
country of the Youghtanunds, Mattapanients, 
Payanketanks, Nantaughtacunds and Onaw- 
manients, on the banks of the Rappahannock 
and Potomac. Thence he was taken back 
to Pamaunkee, (now Westpoint,) at the junc- 
tion of the Matapony and Pamunkey — the 
residence of Opechancanough. Here, for 
three days, they engaged in infernal orgies 
and incantations, with a view to divine their 
captive's secret designs, whether friendly or 
hostile. They also showed him a bag of gun- 
powder, which they were keeping 'till the 
next spring to plant, as it was an article they 
were desirous to propagate. Smith was 
kindly entertained by Opitchapan, (Opechan- 
canough's brother,) who dwelt a little above 
on the Pamunkey. Finally Smith was taken 
to Werowocomoco, a favorite seat of Pow- 
hatan on the York river — then called the Pa- 
maunkee or Pamunkey. They found this 
savage emperor in his rude palace, reclining 
before a fire, on a sort of throne resembling 
a bedstead covered with mats, and wearing a 
long robe of raccoon skins. At his head 
sate a young female and another at his feet. 
On each side of the house sate the men in 
rows, on mats, and behind them as many 
young women, their heads and shoulders 
painted red, some with their heads adorned 
with the snowy down of birds, and all wear- 
ing a necklace of white heads. On Smith's 
entrance they all raised a terrific yell. The 
Queen of Appomattock brought him water 
to wash and another a hunch of feathers for 
;i towel. After feasting him, a long consul- 
tation was held. That ended, two large 
stones were brought and the one laid on the 
other before Powhatan ; then as many as 
could lay hold, seizing, dragged him to the 

\ Martin's Hist. N. Carolina, [., 61. 



1807.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



15 



stones, and laying his head on them, snatched ! hunting cabins of Paspahegh ; they reached 



up their war-clubs, and brandishing them in 
tli i air, were about to slay him, when Poca- 
hontas, (Powhatan's favorite daughter,) a girl 
of only twelve or thirteen years of age, * find- 
ing all her entreaties unavailing, flew and at 
the hazard of her life, clasped his head in her 
arms and Laid her own upon his. The stern 
heart of Powhatan was touched — he relented 
and consented that the captive might live to 
make tomahaws lor him and beads and bells 
for Pocahontas, t This scene occurred at 
Werowocomoco, on the North side of York 
river, in what is now Gloucester county, 
about twenty-five miles below ihe fork of the 
river, and " near a bay into which three creeks 
empty." $ 

The lapse of time will continually heighten 
the interest of Werowocomoco, and in ages 
of the distant future, the traveller will linger 
at the spot graced with the charms of nature 
and endeared by recollections of the heroic 
tenderness of Pocahontas. 

Within two days after Smith's rescue, Pow- 
hatan suffered him to return to Jamestown, 
on condition of sending him two great onus 
and a grindstone, for which he promised to 
give him the country of Capahowosick in the 
neighborhood of Worowocomoco, and for- 
ever esteem him as his own son Nantaquoud. 
Smith was accompanied by twelve guides. § 
On the first night they quartered in some old 



* Smith, v. 2, p. 30. In Newes from Va., Smith calls her 
"a child of tenne years old." This was a mistake. 

t Smith, v. 1, p. 162. 

% Stith, 53. This writer adds, that " Werowocomoco was 
nearly opposite the mouth of Queen's creek," which 1 can 
not help thinking is inaccurate. Smith in Newes from 
Va., {). 11. says, " thebay when he, | Powhatan,) dwelleth hath 
in it three creeks." I have visited that pari of Gloucester 
county and am satisfied that Timber-neck hay is the one 
referred to by Smith. On the East bank of this bay stands 
an old chimney, known as " Powhatan's chimney," and its 
site corresponds exactly with Werowocomoco, as hud down 
on Smith's map. According to Smith, in Ins Gen'l Hist., 
p. 1 17, Werowocomoco was situated " about 25 miles" be- 
low the head of York river. Now, according to Martin's 
Gazetteer, the York rive r is 39 miles in length, and York 
town 11 miles from the mouth. Yorktown is by conse- 
quence 28 miles below the head of the river, and Yorktown 
being about 1 miles below the "chimney," it is about 21 
miles below the head of the river. 



Jamestown the next morning about sun-rise. 
During the journey Smith had expected every 
moment to be put to death. After an ab- 
sence of seven weeks, he was joyfully wel- 
comed back by all except Archer and two 
or three of his confederates. Newport ar- 
rived that night from England with part of the 
first supply. Smith now treated the guides 
kindly, and shewing Rawhunt, a favorite ser- 
vant of Powhatan, two pieces of cannon and 
a grindstone, gave him leave to carry them 
home to his master. A cannon was then 
loaded with stones and discharged among the 
boughs of a tree, hung with icicles, when the 
Indians fled in terror. Upon being persuaded 
to return, they received presents for Powha- 
tan, his wives and children and departed. 

The number of the Colonists was now re- 
duced to forty. Within five or six days after 
Smith's return, Jamestown was destroyed by 
an accidental fire. The houses being thatch- 
ed with reeds, the flames spread even to the 
palisades eight or ten yards distant. Arms, 
bedding, apparel and provisions were con- 
sumed. " Good Master Hunt, our Preacher, 
lost all his library and all he had but the 
clothes on his backe : yet none never heard 
him repine at his losse. This happened in the 
winter in that extreame frost 1607." Another 
attempt of some male-contents to escape in 
the pinnace was baffled by the prudent en- 
ergy of Smith. 

The disastrous fire reduced the Colonists to 
such want, and exposed them to such hard- 
ships in the rigors of that winter, as cut off 
one-half of their number. Pocahontas, how- 
ever, with her tawny attendants, frequently 
visited Jamestown with presents of bread, 
venison and raccoons, sent by Powhatan for 
Smith and Newport. Without this timely 
succor, the Colony must have perished by 
famine. 

Of the one hundred first settlers, the great- 
er part were gentlemen, ' some dissolute, 
some effeminate, and they now suddenly 
(bund themselves in a remote wilderness en- 
compassed by want, exposure, fatigue and 
danger. Newport's arrival at. first cheered 



<,S Smith, v. 1 , p. l(i.'!. New es from Va., p. 10, has it : " hee 
sent me home with four men that usually carried m\ gov ne 
and knapsack aftei me, two other loaded with bread and 
one to accompanie me." There are several discrepancies 
between the Gem ral History and Newes from Va., which 
it is not easy to account for. 



* See List of the first Planters, Smith, vol. I, p. 153. 
Of the whole number, 100, 78 are classified, of whom 5i 
were genth men. 1 carpenters, 12 laborers, a blacksmith, a 
sailor, a barber, a bri( klayer, a mason, a tailor, a drummer, 
and a " chirm. 



16 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. IV. 



the unhappy Colony, but its miseries were we not having any use of parliaments, plaises 



soon aggravated by the delusive rage for gold 
"There was no talke, no hope, no worke, 
but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, loade 
gold." Smith, not indulging in these empty 
dreams of imaginary wealth, laughed at their 
infatuation in loading " such a drunken ship 
with guilded dust." 

Newport, not long after his arrival, accom- 
panied by Smith and thirty or forty picked 
men, visited Powhatan. Upon their arrival 
at Werovvocomoco, Smith lauded with twen- 
ty men. Crossing several creeks on bridges 
of poles and bark, they were met and es- 
corted to the town * by Opechancanough, 
Nontaquaus, Powhatan's son, and two hun- 
dred warriors. Powhatan was found seated 
at the farther end of the house on his throne- 
like bed of mats, his pillow of leather rudely 
embroidered with pearl and beads. More 
than forty trays of bread stood without, in 
rows, on each side of the door. Four or five 
hundred Indians were present. Some days 
were passed in feasting, dancing and tra- 
ding, in which last Powhatan displayed a cu- 
rious mixture of cunning and pride. Smith 
gave him a suit of red cloth, a white grey- 
hound and a hat. Charmed with some blue 
beads, for one or two pounds of them he 
gave in exchange two or three hundred bush- 
els of corn. Newport presented him a boy 
named Thomas Savage in return for an In- 
dian named Namontack. Smith acted as in- 
terpreter. The English next visited Ope- 
chancanough at his seat, Pamunkey. The 
blue beads now came to be in great request, 
and none dared to wear them save the chiefs 
and their families, f 

After Newport's return to Jamestown and 
when about to sail for England, he received 
a present of twenty turkies from Powhatan, 
to whom twenty swords were sen! in return. 
This fowl, peculiar to America, had been 
many years before' carried to England by 
some of the early discoverers, t "Captain 
Newport being ready to sail for England, and 



* Newes from Virginia, p. 11. 
t Smith, vol. I, p. 108. 

t Grahame's Col. Hist. U. S., Amer. Ed., v. 1, p. 28 in 
note. 



petitions, admiralls, recorders, interpreters, 
chronologers, courts of plea, nor justices of 
peace, sent master Wingfield and Captain 
Archer home with him, that had ingrossed 
all those titles, to seeke some better place of 
imployment." * Newport returned to Eng- 
land. Ratcliffe, the president, lived in luxu- 
rious ease, peculating on the public store. 
Upon the approach of spring, Smith and 
Scrivener, newly made one of the council, 
undertook to rebuild Jamestown, repair the 
palisades, fell trees, prepare the fields, plant 
corn and erect another church. Captain 
Nelson at length arrived with the Phoenix, 
which had been supposed to be lost at sea. 
She brought the remainder of the first sup- 
ply, which altogether comprized one hun- 
dred and twenty settlers. Nelson having 
found provisions in the West Indies had hus- 
banded his own, and now imparted them 
generously to the Colony, so that now there 
was a store sufficient for half a year, t 

Smith found it necessary to inflict severe 
chastisement on some of the Indians and to 
imprison others, to deter them from stealing 
arms. Pocahontas " not only for feature, 
countenance and proportion, much exceed- 
eth any of the rest of his people, but for wit 
and spirit the only Nonpareil of his coun- 
try." Powhatan hearing that some of his 
people were kept prisoners at Jamestown, 
sent her with Rawhunt, (who was as remark- 
able " for deformitie of person, but of a sub- 
till wit and crafty understanding,") with pres- 
ents of a deer and bread to procure their 
ransom. They were released, and the youth- 
ful embassadress was dismissed with pres- 
ents | 

The Phccnix sailed freighted with cedar. 
Martin returned in her. § 

* Smith, vol. 1, p. 1G8-9. Chalmers' Political Annals, 
p. 20. 

f Smith, v. I., p. 170. On p. 172 is a list of the settlers 
brought out I • v Newport am! Nelson. *»! the whole num- 
ber, 120, there were thirty-three gentlemen, twenty-one 
laborers, (some of these really only footmen,) six tailors, 
two apothecaries, two jewellers, two gold refiners, two 
goldsmiths, a gunsmith, a perfumer, a " chirurgeon," a 
cooper, a tobacco-pipe-maker, and a blacksmith. 

| Newes from Virginia, p. 17. 

S S Smith, v. 1, p. 165. 



1608.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



17 



CHAPTER V. 

1G08. 

Smith's first Exploring Voyage up the Chesapeake Bay ; 
Smith's Isles; Accomac; Tangier Islands; Wighcoco- 
moco ; Watkins' Point; Keale's Hill ; Point Ployer ; 
Watts' Islands; Cuskarawaok river; The Patapsco; 
Potomac; Quiyough ; Stingray Island ; Smith returns to 
Jamestown; His second voyage up Chesapeake Bay; 
The Massawomeks ; The Indians on the river Tock- 
wogh ; Sasquesahannocks ; Peregrine's Mount; Wil- 
loughby river ; The Patuxenl , Thi Rappahannock ; The 
Pianketank ; Elizabeth river; Nansemond river; Re- 
turn to Jamestown ; The Hudson river discovered. 

On the second day of June, 1G0S, Smith 
with a company of fourteen, including Dr. 
Walter Russel, who had recently arrived, left 
Jamestown for the purpose of exploring the 
Chesapeake bay. He embarked in an open 
barge of less than three tons. Crossing over 
from Cape Henry to the Eastern Shore, they 
discovered and named after their comm; 
" Smith's Isles." At Cape Charles they met 
grim, athletic savages, with bone-headed 
spears in their hands. They directed the 
English to the dwelling-place of the Wero- 
wance of Accomac, who was found courte- 
ous and friendly and the handsomest savage 
they had yet seen. His country was pleas- 
ant, fertile and intersected by creeks, afford- 
ing good harbor^ for small craft. The people 
spoke the language of Powhatan. Smith 
pursuing his voyage, came upon some unin- 
habited isles, which were then named after 
Dr. Russel, surgeon of the party, — but known 
now as Tangier Islands. * Searching for 
fresh water, they fell in with the river Wigh- 
cocomoco, now called Pocomoke. The 
northern point at the mouth, was called Wat- 
kins' Point, anda hill on the south side of Po- 
comoke bay, Keale's 1 1 ill, alter two of the sol- 
diers in the barge. Leaving thai river they 
came to a high promontory named Point 
Plover, in honor of a French nobleman, a 
fori ner friend of Smith. There they found a 
pond of hot water, hi a thunder-storm the 
barge's mast and sail were blown overboard. 
Narrowly escaping the fury of the elements, 
they found it necessar} to remain two days 
on an island, which they named Limbo, but 
now known as one of Watts' Island.-. Re- 
pairing the sail with their shit visited 

* Stith, p. 63. 



a river on the Eastern Shore, called Cuskara- 
waok, and now, by a singular transposition 
of names, called Wighcocomoco. Here the 
natives ran along the banks in amazement, 

some climbing to the tops of trees and .-I t- 

ing their arrows at the strati rers. On the next 
day. a volley of musquetry dispersed the sav- 
ages. On the bank of the river, tin 1 English 
found some cabins, in which they left pieces 
of copper, beads, bells and looking-glasses. 
On the next day several thousand men, wo- 
men and children thronged around the Eng- 
lish, with many expressions of friendship. 
These savages were of the tribes Nause, 
Sarapinagh, Arseek and Nantaquak, of all 
others the most expert in trade. They wore 
the finest furs and manufactured a great deal 
of Roenoke or Indian money. They were 
people of small stature, like those of Wigh- 
cocomoco. The Eastern Shore of the bay 
was found low and well-wooded ; the west- 
ern well-watered, but hilly ami barren. — the 
vallies, however, fruitful, but thickly wooded 
and abounding in deer, wolves, bears and 
other wild animals. A navigable stream was 
called. Bolus, from a, parti-colored, gum-like 
clay found on it s banks. It is now known 
as the Patapsco. 

The party having been about a fortnight 
voyaging in an open boat, fatigued at the oar 
and subsisting on mouldy bread, now impor- 
tuned Smith to return to Jamestown. Heat 
first refused, but shortly after, the sickness of 
his men and the unfavorable weather com- 
pelled him to turn back, t where the bay was 
found nine miles wide, and nine or ten fath- 
oms deep. On the sixteenth of June, they 

fell in with the mouth of the Potomac, where 

it appeared to be seven miles wide. The 
magnificence of thai majestic river reanima- 
ted their drooping spirits, and the sick hav- 
ing now recovered, they agreed to explore" 
the Potomac. About thirty miles above the 
mouth, two Indian- conducted them up a 
small creek towards Nominy. The banks 
swarmed with thousand.-- of the natives, who, 
with painted bodies and hideous fells, seem- 
ed so man) d< tnons let loose from hell. 
Their noisy were soon silenced by 

the glancing of the English bullets on the 
and the report of muskets re-echoing 
I-. The astonisln d red men drop- 

* Stilh, p. 61. 

t Smith, vol. I, p. I - ;::. 



18 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. V. 



ped their bows and arrows, and hostages 
being exchanged, received the whites kindly. 
Towards the head of the Potomac they met 
some canoes laden with bear, deer, and other 
game, which the savages shared with the 
English. On their return down the river, Ja- 
pazaws, king of Potomac, gave them guides 
to conduct them up the river Quiyough, * in 
quest of Matchqueon, a mine which they 
had heard of. They left the Indian hostages 
in the barge, secured by a small chain, with 
which they were pleased to be adorned, and 
which they were to have for their pains. The 
mine turned out to be worthless. It con- 
tained a sort of antimony used by the na- 
tives to paint themselves and their idols. It 
made "them look like blackamoors dusted 
over with silver." Newport had taken some 
bags of it to England as containing silver. 
The wild animals observed were the beaver, 
otter, mink, martin and bear; offish they 
met with great numbers, sometimes lying in 
such schools near the surface, that in absence 
of nets they undertook to catch them with a 
frying pan; — but plenty as they were, it was 
found that they " were not to be caught with 
frying pans." The barge running aground 
at the mouth of the Rappahannock, Smith 
amused himself " spearing" them with his 
sword. In taking one from its point it stung 
him in liie wrist. In a little while the symp- 
toms proved so alarming that his compan- 
ions concluded his death to be at hand, and 
sorrowfully prepared his grave in a neigh- 
boring island by his directions. But by Dr. 
Russel's judicious treatment he quickly re- 
covered and supped that evening upon the 
offending fish, t This incident gave its name 
to Stingray Island. 

The barge returned to Jamestown on the 
21st July. Here sickness and discontent 
were found prevalent. Ratcliffe, the Presi- 
dent, was deposed in favor of Smith, who of 
the council was next entitled to succeed. 
Smith, however, substituted Scrivener in his 
stead and embarked to complete his discove- 
ries, t 

On the 24th of July Smith again set out 

* Stitli, p. 65, takes this to be Potomac Creek. Japa- 
zaws lived at the mouth ol it. 

+ This lish was of the ray species, "much ol the fash- 
ion of a thorn-back, but a long taile like a riding rodde, 
whereon the middesi is a most poisoned sting of two or 
three inches long, bearded like a saw on each sale." 

t Smith, vol. 1, p. 181. 



for the Chesapeake bay. His company con- 
sisted of six gentlemen and as many soldiers. 
Detained some days at Kiquotan, they aston- 
ished the Indians there by a display of rock- 
ets. Reaching the head of the bay, they met 
seven or eight canoes, manned by Massawo- 
meks, * who presented Smith venison, bear's 
meat, fish, bows, arrows, clubs, targets and 
bearskins. On the river Tockwogh, (now 
Sassafrass,) they came upon an Indian town 
fortified with a palisade and breast-works. 
Here men, women and children came forth 
to welcome the whites with songs and dan- 
ces, offering them fruits, furs, and whatever 
they had, spreading mats for them to sit on, 
and in every way expressing their friendship. 

They had tomahawks, knives, and pieces 
of iron and brass, which, as they alleged, 
they had procured from the Sasquesahan- 
nocks, a mighty people dwelling two days 
journey distant on the Susquehannah. t Two 
interpreters were despatched to invite them 
to visit the English. In three or four days, 
sixty of that gigantic people arrived with 
presents of venison, tobacco-pipes three feet 
long, baskets, targets, bows and arrows. Five 
of their chiefs embarked in the barge to cross 
thi' bay. It was Smith's custom daily to have 
prayers in the barge with a psalm. The sav- 
ages were filled with wonder at this, and in 
their turn commenced a sort of adoration, 
holding their hands up to the sun and chant- 
ing a wild and unearthly song. They then 
embraced Captain Smith, adoring him in the 
like manner, and overwhelming him with a 
profusion of presents and abject homage. 

The highest mountain seen by the Eng- 
lish to the Northward, they named Pere- 
grine's mount. Willoughby river derived its 
name from Captain Smith's native town in 
England. At the furtherest points of dis- 
covery crosses were cut in the bark of trees, 
or brass crosses were left. | The people on 
the Patuxent were found "very tractable and 
more civil than any." On the banks of the 
Rappahannock, Smith and his party were 
kindly treated by the Moraughtacunds. Here 
the English met with Mosco, one of the 
Wighcocomocoes. He was remarkable for 
a bushy black beard, whereas the savages in 

* Supposed to lie the same with the Iroquois, or Five 
N iiions. Suili, p. ti?. 

i Suckahanna in the Powhatan language signified " wa- 
ter." Smith, vol. I, |> 147. 

I Smith, vol. I, |> 183. 



1608.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



19 



general had little or none. Mosco proved 
to be of great service to the English in ex- 
ploring the Rappahannock. Mr. Richard 
Fetherstone, a gentleman of the company, 
died during this part of the voyage and was 
buried on the banks of this river, where a 
bay was named after him. The river was ex- 
plored to the falls, (near Fredericksburg,) 
where a skirmish took place with the Rappa- 
hannocks. 

Smith next explored the Pianketank. The 
natives were for the most part absent hunt- 
ing ; a few women, and children, and old 
men were left to tend the corn. Returning 
thence, the barge encountered a tremendous 
thunder-storm in Gosnold's bay. Running 
before the wind, they could only catch fitful 
glimpses of the land by the flashes of light- 
ning, which saved them from dashing to 
pieces on the shore, and directed them to 
Point Comfort. They next visited Chesa- 
peake, now Elizabeth river, on which Nor- 
folk stands. Six or seven miles from the 
mouth of this river, they came upon two or 
three cultivated patches and cabins. Next 
they sailed seven or eight miles up the Nan- 
semond and found its banks consisting main- 
ly of oyster-shells. After a skirmish with 
the Chesapeakes and Nansemonds, Smith 
procured as much corn as he could carry 
away. September 7th, 1G08, they arrived at 
Jamestown. There they found some recov- 
ered, others still sick, many dead, Ratcliffe, 
the late President, under arrest for mutiny, 
the harvest gathered, but the provisions dam- 
aged by rain. 

During that summer, Smith with a few men, 
in a small barge, in his several voyages ol 
discovery, traversed not less than three thous- 
and miles. * He had been at Jamestown 
only three days in three months and had, 
during this time, explored the whole of the 
Chesapeake bay and of the .country lying on 
its shores and made a map of them. 

[1608.] Captain Henry Hudson, an Eng- 
lish navigator, in the service of the Dutch, 
discovered the beautiful river of that name. 
The Dutch afterwards erected, near its mouth, 
the cabins of New Amsterdam, the germ of 
New York. 



* Smith, vol. 1, p. 191. Chalmers' Political Annals, p. 21. 



CHAPTER VI. 

1608. 

Smith President ; Affairs at Jamestown ; Newport arrives 
with the second supply; His instructions; The first 
English women in Virginia; Smith visits Werowoco- 
moco ; Entertained by Pocahontas ; His interview with 
Powhatan ; Coronation of Powhatan ; Newport explores 
the Monacan country; Smith's discipline; Affairs at 
Jamestown ; Newport's return ; Smith's letter to the 
Council; The first Marriage in Virginia; Smith again 
visits Powhatan. 

Smith had hitherto declined, but now con- 
sented to undertake the office of president. 
Ratcliffe was under arresl for mutiny. The 
building of the fine house, which he had com- 
menced for himself in the woods, was dis- 
continued, the church repaired, the store- 
house newly covered, magazines for supplies 
erected, the fort reduced to a pentagon fig- 
ure, the watch renewed, troops trained and 
the whole company mustered every Saturday 
in the plain by the west bulwark, called 
■• Smithfield." There sometimes more than 
a hundred dark-eyed, tawny Indians would 
stand in amazement, to sec a tile of soldiers 
batter a tree, where a target was set up to 
shoot at. 

Newport now arrived from England with a 
second supply. He brought out also pres- 
ents for Powhatan, a bason and ewer, bed, 
bedstead and suit of scarlet clothes. New- 
port, upon this voyage, had procured a pri- 
vate commission, in which be pledged him- 
self to perform one of three impossibilities, 
for he engaged not to return without either a 
lump of gold, a certainty of the South Sea, 
or one of Sir Waller Raleigh's lost colonists. 
Newporl broughl also orders to discover the 
Manakin (originally Monacan) country, and 
a baro-e construe led so as to be taken to 
pieces, which they were to carry to the falls 
to convey them to the South Sea!' The 
cost of' the voyage was two thousand pounds, 
and the company ordered that the vessels 
should he sent hack freighted with cargoes 
of corresponding value, and threatened, in 
case of a failure, "thai they should he left in 

* V.iseo Nunez in 1513, crossing the Isthmus of Darien, 
from a mountain discovered, on the other side ol the oonti- 

iii ni, an ocean whi( ii from the direction in which he saw 
it, took the name of the Sjulh Sea —Ujl'rUun,niedbij 



20 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. VI. 



Virginia as banished men." The company 
had been deeply incensed by a letter recei\ ! 
by * Lord Salisbury, Secretary of State, re- 
porting that the planters intended to divide 
the country among themselves. It is alto- 
gether improbable that they had conceived 
any design of appropriating a country which 
so few of them were willing to cultivate and 
from which so many were anxious to escape. 
The folly of the instructions was only sur- 
passed by the inhumanity of the threat.! 
Newport brought over with him Captains 
Peter Wynne and Richard Waldo, two vete- 
ran soldiers and valiant gentlemen, Francis 
West, brother of Lord Delaware, Raleigh 
Crashaw, Thomas Forest, wish Mrs. Forest 
and Anne Burras her maid, the first English 
women that ever set their feet on the Virgi- 
nia soil, t Some Poles and Germans were 
sent out to make pitch, tar, glass, .soap, ashes 
and mills. Waldo and Wynne were admitted 
into the Council. Ratcliffe was restored to 
his seat. 

The time appointed for Powhatan's coro- 
nation now drawing near, Smith, accompa- 
nied by Captain Waldo and three others, 
wenl overland from Jamestown to Werowo- 
comoco, distant about twelve miles. They 
crossed the river in an Indian canoe. Upon 
reaching Werowocomoco, Powhatan being 
found absent was sent for. In the meantime 
Smith and his comrades were entertained by 
Pocahontas and her nymphs. They made a 
fire in a level field and Smith sate on a mat 
before it. A hideous noise and shrieking 
were suddenly heard in the adjoining woods. 
The English snatched up their arms and sei- 
zed two or three aged Indians. Put Poca- 
hontas immediately came and protested to 
Smith that he might slay her if any surprize 
was intended, and he was quickly satisfied 
thai his apprehensions were groundless. 
Then thirty young women emerged from the 
woods, all naked save a cincture of green 
leaves, their bodies painted. Pocahontas 
wore on her head a beautiful pair of buck's- 
horns, an otter's skin at her girdle and 
another on her arm : a quiver huno- on her 
shoulder ami she held a bow and arrow in 

* S,r Roberi Cecil. 

1 Si ill,, p. 82. " History ol the Revolt of the American 
Colonies," by George Chalmers, vol. 1, p. 3. Chalmers' 
Politic. il Ann, lis, |i 

t Stniih, vol. 1, p. 193. By "Virginia soil" ol course 
is meant the soil of Virginia / , • 



her hand. Of the other nymphs, one held a 
sword, another a club, a third a pot-stick, 
with the antlers of the deer on their heads 
and a variety of other savage ornaments. 
Bursting from the forest like so many fiends 
with unearthly shrieks, they circled around 
the fire, singing and dancing. The dance 
was continued for an hour, when they again 
retired to the woods. Next they invited Smith 
to their habitations, where, as soon as he en- 
tered, they all crowded around, hanging about 
him, with cries of " love you not me ? — love 
you not me ?" They then feasted him, some 
serving, others singing and dancing. Lastly, 
with torches oflightwood, they escorted him 
to his lodging. 

On the next day Powhatan arrived. Smith 
informed him of the presents that had been 
sent out for him, restored to him Namontack, 
who had been taken to England, and invited 
the emperor, (as he was styled,) to visit 
Jamestown, to accept the presents, and, with 
Newport's aid, to revenge himself upon his 
enemies, the Monacans. He refused to vi- 
sit Jamestown, saying that he too was a king, 
hut agreed to wait eight days to receive the 
presents. As for the Monacans, he avowed 
that he was able to avenge his grievances 
himself. In regard to tin 1 salt water beyond 
the mountains, of which Smith had spoken. 
Powhatan denied that there was any such, 
and tlnw lines of those regions on the ground. 
Smith returned to Jamestown. The presents 
were sent to Werowocomoco by water, near 
a hundred miles, while Newport and Smith, 
with fifty men, proceeded thither by land. * 

All being assembled at Werowocomoco, 
the next day was appointed for the corona- 
tion. The presents were delivered to Pow- 
hatan — a bason, ewer, bed and furniture 
ready set up. A scarlet cloak and suit of 
apparel were with difficulty put upon him, 
Namontack insisting that it would not hurt 
him. Strenuous efforts were found neces- 
sary to make him kneel to receive the crown. 
At last, by dint of persuasions .and pressing 
hard upon his shoulders, he was induced re- 
luctantly to stoop a little. Three of the 
h then placed the crown on his head. 
At an appointed signal a volley of musque- 
irv was bred from the boats, and Powhatan 
started front bis seat in momentary alarm. 
He presented his old moccasins and mantle 

• S nith, vol 1, p. 1 19. Chalmers' Polit. Annals, p. 23. 



1608.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



21 



to Newport and some corn, bul refused to 
allow him any guides excepl NTamontack. 
Newport returned to Jamestown. Shortly 
afterwards he explored the Monacan country 
with one hundred and twenty men, com- 
manded by Captain Waldo, Lieutenant Per- 
c\. Captain Wynne, Mr. Wesi and Mr. Scriv- 
ener. 

Smith with eighty or ninety men, some 
sick, some feeble, was left at Jamestown. 
Newport passing by the falls of James river, 
proceeded forty miles beyond on the South 
side and returned by the same route. He 
discovered Massinacak and Mowchemen- 
chouch. The natives, " the stoics of the 
woods," evinced neither friendship nor en- 
mity. The English, out of abundant caution, 
took one of their chiefs and led him bound 
at once a hostage and a guide. 

Upon Newport's return to Jainestown, 
Smith, the president, set some of the colo- 
nists to make glass, others to prepare tar, 
pitch and soap-ashes, while he, in person. 
conducted thirty of them live miles below 
the fort, to fell trees and prepare plank. Two 
of this party were young gentlemen brought 
out in the last supply. Smith sharing labor 
and hardship in common with the rest, these 
woodmen soon became reconciled to the 
novel task and listened with pleasure to the 
crashing thunder of the falling trees. But 
when the axes began to blister their unac- 
customed hands, oaths were heard reverbe- 
rating in the forest. Smith taking measures 
to have the oaths of each one numbered, at 
night for each offence poured a can of water 
down the offender's sleeve. This put an end 
to the profanity. 

Smith procured a supply of com from the 



more, was sent back al the same time. Smith 
addressed a letter to the council in England, 
exhibiting the folly of expecting a present 
profitable return from the colony. He sent 
them also his map of the country, — made 
with so much exactness, that it has been 
taken as the groundwork of all succeeding 
maps of Virginia. ' Not longafter New port's 
departure. Anne Burras was married at James- 
town to John Laydon — the first marriage in 
the colony. Smith, finding the provisions 
running low, made a voyage to Nansemond, 
and afterwards went up the James and dis- 
covered the river and people of Appomat- 
tock. t Their little corn they gave in ex- 
change for copper and trinkets. 

Powhatan sent an invitation to Smith to 
visit him and a request that he would send 
men to build him a house and give him a 
grindstone, fifty swords, some guns, a cock 
and hen, with much copper and many beads, 
in return for which he promised to load his 
vessel with com. Having despatched a party 
to build the house, J Smith, accompanied by 
the brave Waldo, set out for Werowocomoco, 
on the 29th of December, with the pinnace 
and two barges, manned with forty-six men. 
Smith went in the barge with six gentlemen 
and as many soldiers. In the pinnace were 
Lieut. Percy and Francis West, with a num- 
ber of gentlemen and soldiers. The little 
fleet dropping down the James, arrived the 
first night at Warrasqueake. Thence Sick- 
lemore, a veteran soldier, was despatched 
with two Indian guides to the Chowan in 
quest of Sir Walter Raleigh's lost company 
and of silk grass. Smith left Samuel Collier, 
his page, with the chief there, to learn the 
language. The English were detained by 



Chickahominy. Upon his return, Newport inclement weather a week at Kecoughtail 
and Ratcliffe, instigated by jealousy, attempt- and spent the Christmas holidays || among 
ed to depose him from the presidency, hut 
he del'eated their schemes. The colony suf- 
fered much loss at this time from an illicit 
trade carried on between the sailors of New- 
port's vessel, dishonesl settlers and the sava- 
ges. 

Scrivener, by the aid of Namontack, pro- 
cured from Werowocomoco a supply of corn 
and puccoons, a root used in dying. 

Newport sailed for England, leaving two 

hundred souls at Jamestown. Ratcliffe, 

whose real name was found to be Sickle- 1 house built for Powhatan. 

Smith, vol. I . p. 206. Some mistake here, foi it is sta 
* Smith, vol. !,p. 197. ted that they left Jamestown on the 29th ol December. 



* Stith, p. 83. So says this accurate writer. Bul so 
rough and conjectural a chart is of course in many points 
inaccurate. 

f Smith, vol. ]., p. 204. Hillard in his Life of Smith, 
inadvertently says, that Smith, "accompanied by 
Captain Waldo, went up ill' li'ii; in t«" barges. The Indi- 
ans on all sides lb d at tin' sight ol' them till they discover- 
ed the river and people ol Appomattox." 

] The St Chimney, (already referred toon a former 

page,) with an enormous fire-place, still standing near 
the mouth of Timber-neck creek in Glouceslei county, 
called " Powhatan's Chimney" is probably a relic of the 



22 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. VII. 



the natives, feasting on oysters, fish, venison, 
wild-fowl and good bread. They enjoyed 
also excellent fires in the dry, smoky cab- 
ins. While there, two of the party killed 
one hundred and forty-eight wild-fowl in three 
shots. 

At Kiskiack, (now Chescake,) * the sever- 
ity of the cold again drove the English to 
shelter themselves in the Indian cabins. On 
the 12th of January, they reached Werowo- 
comoco. The York was frozen over near a 
half mile from the shore. Smith, to lose no 
time, undertook to break his way through the 
ice; but the tide ebbing, left the barge aground 
on a shoal. In this dilemma, although the 
cold was extreme, Smith, jumping into the 
icy river, set the example to his men of wad- 
ing near waist deep to the shore. Quarter- 
ing in the first cabins they reached, they sent 
to Powhatan for provision. On the following 
day he supplied them abundantly with bread, 
wild turkies and venison. Like Nestor of 
old, he somewhat extravagantly told Smith 
that he had seen the death of all his people 
thrice ; that he was now old and must ere 
long die ; that his brothers, Opitchapan, Ope- 
chancanough and Kekataugh, t his two sis- 
ters and their two daughters were to be his 
successors. Powhatan deprecated war, and 
declared, that when he and his people forced 
to fly, by fear of the English, lay in the 
woods, exposed to cold and hunger, " if a 
twig but breake, every one cryeth, there 
commeth Captaine Smith." At length, how- 
ever, after a long dialogue, Powhatan still 
obstinately insisting that the English should 
lay aside their arms, Smith gave orders pri- 
vately to his people in the boat to approach 
and capture him. Discovering their design 
he fled with his women and children, while 
his warriors beset the cabin when- Smith was. 
Willi pistol, sword and target, he rushed out 
among them and fired; some fell one over 
another; the rest escaped. Powhatan find- 
ing himself in Smith's power, to make his 
peace, sent him by an aged orator a large 
bracelet and chain of pearl. In the mean- 
while the savages " goodly well-proportioned 
fellows, as grim as Divels," carried the corn 
on their backs down to the boats. The bar- 



* An tild church, not fai from Yorktown, bears the name 
of " Chescake," pronounced " < Iheese-cake." 

I Smith, vol. I, p. '.'(is. Kekataugh is sometimes written 
Catataugh, as in Stith, p. 87. 



lies of the English being in the meanwhile 
lefl aground by the ebb-tide, they were obli- 
ged to remain 'till the next high-water and 
accordingly returned ashore to lodge in some 
Indian cabins. Powhatan and the traitorous 
Dutchmen now plotted Smith's destruction. 
But "Pocahontas, his dearest iewell and daugh- 
ter, in that darke night, came through the 
irksome woods and told our Captaine great 
cheare should be sent vs by and by ; but 
Powhatan and all the power he could make, 
would after come kill vs all, if they that 
brought it could not kill vs with our owne 
weapons, when we were at supper. There- 
fore if we would Hue, shee wished vs pre- 
sently to be gone. Such things as she de- 
lighted in," Smith " would have given her, 
but with the teares running downe her cheekes, 
she said she durst not be seene to haue any, 
for if Powhatan should know it, she were but 
dead and so shee raune away by herselfe as 
she came." The attempt to surprise the 
English was soon made, but Smith forewarn- 
ed, readily defeated the design. * 



CHAPTER VII. 

1608—1609. 

Smith visits Pamaunkee; Seizes Opcchancanough ; Loss 
of Scrivener and his party ; Smith goes back to Wero- 
wocomoco ; Procures supplies; Returns to Jamestown ; 
Smith's rencontre with the Chief ofPaspahegh; Affairs 
of the Colony ; A Fort built there ; " The old Stone 
House ;" Scarcity at Jamestown ; The Colonists disper- 
sed to procure subsistence; Tuckahoe root; Smith's 
discipline; Sicklemore's discoveries ; Chief of the Qui- 
qoughcohannocks ; The Virginia Company procures a 
New Charter; Us character ; Lord Delaware appointed 
Governor; A fleet despatched for Virginia; Gates, So- 
rners and Newport embark in the Sea-Adventure; She 
is east, away on the Island of Bermuda ; Seven vessels 
reach Jamestown ; Disorders thai ensued; Smith arrests 
the ring-leaders . West with a detachment sent, to the 
falls; Martin to Nansemond ; Mutinous conduct of the 
Settlers ; Smith's < fforts to quell them ; He embarks for 
Jamestown; Accidentally blown up with gun-powder; 
Arrives at Jamestown ; Violence of the male-contents; 
Smith embarks foi England ; His character ; Notice of 
bis Life and Writings. 

Smith, with Percy and fifteen others, went 
up to Pamaunkee, (West Point,) at the head 
of York river. Here they found Opechanca- 

* Smith, vol. 1, p. 212. 



160S-9.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



23 



nough's residence, a quarter of a mile back 
from the river. The chief of the warlike Pa- 
munkies in a short time arrived, accompanied 
hy his warriors, armed with bows and arrows. 
Several hundred of them surrounded the 
house where the English were. They grow- 
ing alarmed, Smith exhorted them " to fight 
like men and not die like sheepe." The 
treachery of the savages being now manifest, 
Smith seized Opechancanough by his long 
lock of hair and with a cocked pistol at his 
breast, led him trembling in the midsl of his 
people. Terrified he surrendered his vam- 
brace, bow and arrows, while his astonished 
followers threw down their arms. 

During this time Scrivener, at Jamestown, 
conceived a design of escaping from the 
presidency. But starting for Hog Island on 
a stormy day. in company of Captain Waldo, 
Anthony Gosnold and eight others, the boat 
sunk and all were lost. Richard Wyffin un- 
dertook to carry the intelligence to Smith. 
Wyffin, at Werowocomoco, was shielded 
from danger by Pocahontas, who in every 
emergency still proved herself the guardian 
angel of the infant colony. 

Smith releasing Opechancanough now re- 
turned to Werowocomoco. On the follow- 
ing morning, a little after sunrise, the fields 
swarmed with Indians. Smith landed in 
company of Percy and two others. They 
were met by Powhatan with two or three 
hundred men, formed in two half-moons, with 
some twenty men and many women carrying 
painted baskets. 

Discovering on a nearer approach the Eng- 
lish in their boats with arms in their hands, 
the savages fled. However, for several ensu- 
ing days, from all parts of the country within 
a circle of ten or twelve miles, in the snow 
they brought on their naked backs provision 
for Smith's party. 

The poor Indians on the Mattapony and 
Pamunkey rivers, gave up the little corn they 
had, with such lamentations and tears of wo- 
men and children, as touched the hearts ol 
the English with compassion. 

In this expedition Smith, with twenty-live 
pounds of copper and fifty pounds of iron 
and some beads, procured in exchange two 
hundred pounds of deer suet and four hun- 
dred and seventy-nine bushels of corn. * 

Shortly after Smith's return, he met the 

* Smith, vol. 1, p. 220. 



chief of Paspahegh near Jamestown, and 
had a rencontre with him. This " most strong 
stout Salvage," forced Smith into the river in 
order to drown him. They grappled long in 
the water, at length Smith grasping him by 
the throat, well nigh strangled him, and draw- 
ing his falchion was about to cut oil' his head, 
when he begged so piteously for his lili\ that 
Smith spared it and led him prisoner to James- 
town, where he put him " in chaynes." He 
was daily visited by his wives and children 
and people, who brought presents to ransom 
him. At last he made his escape. Smith 
sent a party who burnt the chief's house and 
shortly alter going out himself to " try his 
conclusions" with the " salvages," slew seven 
of the Paspaheghs, made as many prisoners, 
burnt their cabins and carried away their 
canoes and fishing weirs. 

A party of the Paspaheghs having surren- 
dered themselves, one of them, named Okan- 
ing, made a speech to Smith, in which he 
justified the escape of their chief from im- 
prisonment at Jamestown, on the ground that 
" tin' fishes swim, the foulls fly and the very 
beasts strive to escape the snare and Hue." 

A block-house was now built in the neck 
of the Jamestown peninsula. It was guard- 
ed by a garrison, who alone were authorized 
to trade with the Indians, and neither Indi- 
ans nor whites suffered to pass in or out with- 
out the president's leave. Thirty or forty- 
acres of land were planted. The hogs were; 
kept at Hog Island and increased rapidly. 
Poultry was raised without the necessity of 
feeding. A block-house was garrisoned at 
Hog Island for the purpose of telegraphing 
shipping, arrived in the river. Capt. Wynne 
the only surviving councillor now dying, the 
whole government devolved upon Smith. In- 
deed he had in effect already held it for some 
time before, by having two voices in the 
council. 

Smith built a fort for a retreat, on a con- 
venient river, upon a high commanding hill, 
very hard to be assaulted and easy of defence. 
But the scarcity of provisions at Jamestown, 
prevented its completion. * This is probably 
the structure now known as the "Old Stone 
House," on Ware creek, a tributary of York 
river, and in James City county. It stands 
aboul live mill's from the mouth of the creek 

x Smith, vol. 1, p. 227. 



24 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. VII. 



and twenty-two from Jamestown. The walls 
and chimney which remain are of sandstone. 
This miniature fortress is eighteen and a half 
feet, by fifteen in size, and consists of a base- 
ment under ground and one story above. 
On one side, there is a door-way, six feet 
wide, giving entrance to both apartments. 
There are loop-holes in the walls and the 
masonry is exact. The house stands in a wil- 
derness, on a high knoll, at the foot of which 
the creek meanders. It i* one hundred feet 
above the stream and three hundred back 
from it. The " Old Stone House" is ap- 
proached by a long circuitous defile, sur- 
rounded by gloomy forests and dark ravines, 
mantled with laurel. It is doubtless the old- 
est house in Virginia. Its age and wild se- 
questered situation, have connected with it 
the fables of an uncertain tradition. 

The store of provisions at Jamestown was 
wasted by rats introduced by vessels from ' 
England. For a time the Indians supplied 
the Colony with squirrels, turkeys, deer and 
other game. But at length the want of corn 
put a stop to the works that were in progress 
and the Colonists were dispersed abroad to 
procure subsistence. Sergeant Laxon, with 
sixty or eighty of them, was sent down the 
river to live upon oysters; Lieutenant Percy 
with twenty to find fish at Point Comfort. 
West, brother of Lord Delaware, with an 
equal number, repaired to the Falls, where 
nothing edible was found but acorns. Hith- 
erto the whole body of the Colonists had been 
provided for by the courage and industry of 
thirty or forty. They had lived upon stur- 
geon and wild fruits. One man could in a 
day gather enough of the tuckahoe root to 
supply him with bread for a week. This 
tockawhonghe, as it is called by Smith, was. 
in the summer, a chief article of diet among 
the natives. It grows in marshes like a (lag 
and is like the potatoe in size and flavor. 
Raw it is no better than poison, so that the 
Indians were accustomed lo roast it and eat 
it mingled with sorel and meal. ' Such was 



* Si, mli, vol. 1. p. 123. Beverley's Hist, of Va., B. 3., 
p. 15. (I refer in general to the first edition of I i ' 

dues not differ materially from ihe second edition published 
Anno. 1722.) Tin-' re is a remarkable rool found in Virginia, 
said to grow without stem oi leal and calli d Tuckahoe, and 
confounded with the flag rool de i ribed above, See Farm- 
er's Register for April, 1839, and vol. 9., p. 3. Jefferson's 
Notes on V:i„ i>. 33. Rees' Cyclopaedia Art, Tuckahoe. 
Hist, of Louisiana by M. I.e. Page Du Pratz, p. 247. Dis- 



the indolence of the greater number at James- 
town that it seemed as if they would sooner 
starve than take the pains to obtain food. At 
length their mutinous discontents arose to 
such a pitch that Smith arrested and punished 
Dyer, chief of the male-contents, and order- 
ed that whoever failed to provide daily as 
much food as he should consume should be 
banished from Jamestown as a drone and a 
nuisance. Of the two hundred Colonists 
many were billeted among the Indians, and 
thus become familiar with their habits and 
manner of life. * Sicklemore, the soldier who 
had been despatched to Chowanock, return- 
ed a iter a fruitless search for Sir Walter Ra- 
leigh's people. He found the Chowan not 
large, the county generally overgrown with 
pines, pemminaw or silk-grass growing here 
and there. Two messengers were likewise 
sent to the country of the Mangoags in 
quest of the lost settlers. These messengers 
learned that they were all dead. Guides had 
been supplied by the hospitable chief of the 
Quiyoughcohanocks, who, of all others, was 
most friendly to the whites. Although a de- 
vout worshipper of his own gods he acknowl- 
edged that they were as inferior to the Eng- 
lish God in power as the bow and arrow were 
inferior to the English gun. He often sent 
presents to Smith begging him to pray to the 
English God '■ for raine, else his come would 
perish, for his Gods were angry." 

The Virginia company, in England, mainly 
intent on pecuniary gain and quick returns, 
were now discouraged by the disasters that 
had befallen the Colony and disappointed in 
their visionary hopes of the discovery of gold 
mines and of a passage to the South Sea. 
They therefore took measures to procure 
from .lames a new charter abrogating the ex- 
isting one, and invested them with more ex- 
tensive powers. Having associated with 
themselves a numerous body of additional 
.■stockholders or adventurers, as they were 
then styled, including many of rank, influ- 
ence and wealth, they succeeded in obtaining 
from the king a new charter, dated [May 23, 
lb'09,] transferring to the corporation sev- 
eral importanl powers before reserved to the 
crown. So far the company became more 

course delivered 181 I by De Wilt Clmi.ni before the Lite- 
rary and Philosophical Society of New-York, note 32. 
V leinoni's Report, loo ' 
* Smith, vol. 1 , i'. 



1608-9.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



•25 



crown. So far the company became more 
independent and republican ; but the gov- 
ernor, under the new system, was indued 
with arbitrary command, and authorized to 
declare mania] law, and the condition of the 
Colonists was worse than before, since even 
the King's colonial policy was more liberal 
than that of the company. This sudden re- 
peal of the former charter displayed a selfish 
le for the services of Smith and his 
associates, who, under it, had weathered the 
toil, privations and dangers of the first set- 
tlement. The supreme council, in England, 
now chosen by t lie stockholders, themselves 
appointed Sir Thomas West, Lord Dela- 
Governor and Captain General of Vir- 
ginia, Sir Thomas Gales his Lieutenant, and 
Sir George ' imiral. Nine ve el 

were speed ' out and | lied for 

the Colony, with live hundj rant;. 

Newport, who was entrusted with command 
of the squadron, Gates and Somers were 
severally authorized, whichever of them mighl 
first reach Jamestown, to supersede the ex- 
isting administration there, until Lord Del- 
aware, wlm was not to embark for ^o:ne 
months, should arrive. This abundant cau- 
tion defeated itself. Newport and the two 
knights finding i. impracticable to adjust the 
point of precedence among themselves, by 
■ f compromise embarked together in the 
same vessel, the Sea- Venture. The squad- 
ron sailed towards the end of May, [lb'09,] 
A small s< hooner perished in a hurricane. 
In the latter part of July, the Sea-Venture, 
witli Newport, Gates, Somers and one hun- 
dred and fifty emigrants, was separated from 
the fleet in a terrible storm and wrecked on 
the coast of the picturesque island of Ber- 
mudas. The other seven vessels, shattered 
by the storm, and having suffered the loss of 
the greater portion of their supplies, readied 
Jamestown, [August lb'09.) They brought 
RatclifFe, whose real name was Sickle- 
more, who had been remanded by Smith to 
England on a< count of his mutinous conduct, 
Martin and Archer, together with sundry 
other captains and '-divers Gentlemen of 
good meaner and great parentage," and afoul 
three hundred more emigrants, the greater 
proportion of them profligate youths, packed 

* He was third of that title. The] I 13,) Earl 

Delaware, John George West, is his lineal descendant. 
Hubbard's noti ... Bell nap, ' ol 2, p. I Hi, 



oil' from home "to e ' bro- 

ken-down gentlemen, bankrupt tradesmen 

and tin; like. Upon the appearance of the 
Smith, not expecting such a supply, took 

them to lie Spaniards and prepared to en- 
counter them, and th< Indians readily offer- 
ed their- assistance. Tiie Coiony had already, 
before the arrival of the fleet, been threatened 
with anarchy, owing to intelligence ol 
premature repeal of the charter brought out 
In ( !apt. A ;• dl. Tie 1 new i migrants had no 
sooner landed than they involved the Colony 
in new confusion and misery. Tin 1 factious 
leaders affecting to insist on the abrogation of 
the old charier, rejected the authority of 
Smith, whom they hated, and feared, and un- 
dertook to usurp the government. Their 
folly equalled their insolence. "To-day the 
old Commission must rule, to-morrow the 
new, tin.' next d: ;" thus, by continual 

change, plun i all things into anarchy. 
Smith filled with disgust, would cheerfully 
have returned to England, " but seeing small 
hope this new commission would arrive" lie 
resolved to put an end to these, continual 
plots, cabals and machinations. Tin 1 ring- 
leaders, Ratcliffe, Archer, and others, he ar- 
rested : to cut oil' one source of disturbance 
he gave permission to Percy, who was . 
health, to embark for England, ol' \. 
however, he did not avail hitiis . 
one hundred and twenty pi. o, was 

detached to the falls of James river, and Mar- 
tin, with nearly the same number, to Nanse- 
mond. Smiih's presidencj having expired 

about this lime, he had been succeeded by 

Martin, who, however, conscious of his in- 
competency, had immediately resigned it to 
Smith. ' Martin, at Nansemond, seized the 
chief, and capturing the town, occupied it 
with his detachment. Here, however, owing 
to want of judgment or of vigilance, he suf- 
fered himself to be surprised by the savages, 
who slew many of his party, rescued their 
chief and carried off their corn. Martin not 
long after returned to Jamestown leaving In- 
detachment to shift for themselves. 

Smith visiting West's settlement at the 
falls, found them planted " in a place uoi 
only subieel to the river's invndation, but 
round invironed with many intollerable in- 



* Smith, v. 1, ] i. Grahame's Hist. t". S. Amer. 

I 



I 



26 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. VII. 



conueniences." To remedy these, Smith, 
by a messenger, proposed to purchase from 
Powhatan his seat of that name, a little low- 
er down the river. The settlers, however, 
disdainfully rejected the scheme, and became 
so mutinous, that Smith landed among them 
and arrested the chief malecontents. But 
overpowered by numbers, being backed by 
only five, he was forced to retire on board of 
a vessel lying in the river. The Indians daily 
brought him provisions, in requital for which 
the English stole their corn, robbed their 
gardens, beat them, broke into their cabins, 
and made them prisoners. They complained 
to Smith that those whom he had sent there 
as protectors, were worse than their enemies, 
the Monacans. Smith embarked for James- 
town. However, he had no sooner ■ ! sail 
than many of West's people were slain by 
the savages. And it so happened that before 
Smith had dropped a mile and a half down 
the river his vessel ran aground. Making a 
virtue of necessity, he now summoned the 
mutineers to a parley, and they were siezed 
with such a panic on account of the assault 
of a handful of savages, that they submitted 
themselves to his mercy. He now again ar- 
rested the ring-leaders, and established the 
rest at Powhatan, in the Indian palisade fort, 
which was so well fortified by poles and bark, 
as to defy all the savages in Virginia. Dry 
cabins were also found there, and nearly two 
hundred acres of ground ready to be planted, 
and it was called "Nonsuch, as being at once 
the strongest and most delightful place in 
the country. Smith now being on the eve 
of his departure, West's arrival again threw 
all things aback into confusion. Nonsuch 
was abandoned and all hands returned to 
the falls. Smith finding all bis efforts abor- 
tive, embarked in a boat for Jamestown. Du- 
ring the voyage, lie was terribly wounded 
while asleep, by the accidental explosion of 
a bag of gunpowder. In the paroxysm of 
pain he leapt into the river and was well 
nigh drowned before his companions could 
rescue him- Arriving at Jamestown in this 
helpless condition, he was again assailed by 
faction and mutiny. One of his enemies 
even presented a cocked pistol at him in his 
bed; but the band wanted the nerve to exe- 
cute what the hearl was malignant enough to 
design. Ratcliffe, Archer and their confed- 
erates laid plans to usurp the government. 



Smith's old soldiers, fired with indignation 
at conduct so infamous, begged for permis- 
sion to strike off their heads. But this he 
refused, as he did also to surrender the gov- 
ernment to Percy, * and embarked for Eng- 
land about Michaelmas, 1609, after a stay of 
a little more than two years in Virginia, t to 
which he never returned. 

Here then closes the career of Captain 
John Smith in Virginia. He was " the fa- 
ther of the Colony." and a knight like Bay- 
ard, " without fear and without reproach." 
His departure was thus deplored by one of 
Ids comrades : — " What shall I say but thus ; 
we lost him that in all his proceedings made 
Iustice his first guide and experience his sec- 
ond, even hating basenesse, sloath, pride 
and indignitic, more then any dangers; that 
neuer allowed more for himselfe than his 
souldiers with him; that vpon no danger 
would send them, where lie would not lead 
them himselfe : that would never see vs want 
what he either had, or could by any meanes 
get vs ; that would rather want then borrow 
or starue then not pay ; that loued action 
more then words, and hated falshood and 
covetousness worse then death; whose ad- 
ventures were our lines, and whose losse our 
deaths." | 

From the period of Smith's departure from 
Virginia, lor some years little is known of 
him. [1614.] He made his first voyage to 
New England. [1615.] After many disap- 
pointments, sailing in a small bark for that 
country, after a running light with, and nar- 
row escape from, two French pirates near 
Fayal, he was captured near Flores by a half 
piratical French squadron. Alter long deten- 
tion, he was carried to Rochelle, in France, 
and there charged with having burnt Port 



" Stith censures Smith for refusing to surrender ihe 
presidency to Percy ; yel he acknowledges that he was in 
ioo feeble health to control a mutinous colony. Besides 
anarchy being triumphant in the colony, Smith probably 
held it idle, il not worse, to appoint a governor over a mob. 
If, however, Smith acted petulantly in this affair, surely 
petulance was never more excusable. See Smith, vol. 1, 
p.239 H). Bancroft, vol. I., p. 138, has inadvertently fallen 
into an error in this particular. lie says of Smith, "del- 
egating his authoritj to Percy, he embarked for England." 

t Smith, vol. ], p. 231. 

|. Another of his old soldiers said .— 
" I nevci km '\ it Waniet yel bul thee 
From wine, Tobacco, debts, dice, oaths so free." 
[Smith, v i./ 10 r by T. Carlton. Smilh,v.2,Vll. 



1608-9.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



27 



Royal, in New France, which had been done 
by Capt. Argall. Smith at length, at the ut- 
most hazard, escaped from his captors, and 
being assisted by several of the inhabitants 
of Rochelle, especially by " Madame Cha- 
noyes," * he at last returned to England and 
published, [June, 1616,] his "Description oi 
New England," written while he was a pris- 
oner on board of a piratical French ship, in 
order, as he says, " to keep my perplexed 
thoughts from too much meditation of my 
miserable estate." The Plymouth company 
now conferred upon him the title of Admiral 
of New England. It was during this year 
that Pocahontas visited England. After this, 
Smith never again visited America. [1622.] 
When the news of the massacre reached 
England, Smith proposed to come over to 
Virginia with a proper force to reduce the 
savages to subjection. This project, how- 
ever, failed. 

Captain Smith died at London, [1631,] in 
the fifty-second year of his age. Although 
gifted with a person and address of singular 
fascination, he never married. He was pos- 
sessed of a competent fortune, if not weal- 
thy. He never received any recompense for 
his colonial labors and sacrifices. He spent 
five years and more than five hundred pounds 
in the service of Virginia and New England, 
and yet he complains, " in neither of those 
two Countries haue I one foot of Land, nor 
the very house I budded, nor the ground I 
digged with my owne hands, nor euer any 
content or satisfaction at all, and though I 
see ordinarily those two Countries shan d 
before me, by them that neither haue them 
nor knowe them but by my descriptions." 
His "Newesfrom Virginia" appeared [1608.] 
It is remarkable that this publication con- 
tained no allusion to his rescue by Poca- 
hontas. He published, [1612,] "A Map of 
Virginia, with a description of the countrey, 
commodities, people, governmenl and reli- 
gion," &c, and, [1620,] "New England 
Trial-." [1626.] Appeared his "General! 
Historic of Vi.-_ ,. : few England, and the 
Summer Isles," i a greater pari of whii 

* "Tragabigzanda, Callamata's love, 
Deare Pocahontas, Madam Shanoi's too, 
Who di 1 '^li.ii love with modesty could doe." 
[ Verses, by /.'. /-'.- \hwail, \ !. ] 

t I have been indebted to a gent.lem n o 
eountj bM a sight of this old quarto. Tin tj 
very good. 



been already published, [1625,] by Purchas 
in his •• Pilgrims." The second and sixth 
books of this "Historic" were composed by 
Smith, the third was compiled by William 
Simons, " Doctour of Divinitio," and the 
rest by Smith from about thirty different wri- 
ters. [1625.] tie published "An Accidence, 
or the pathway to experience, necessary for 
all young Seamen," and, [1627,] "A Sea 
Grammar." [1630.] He gave to the public 
"The Trve Travels, Adventvres and Obser- 
vations of Captaine John Smith in Europe, 
Asia, Africke and America," from 1.593 to 
1629. This work, together with the Gen- 
eral History, was republished by Rev. Dr. 
John H. Rice, [1819,] at Richmond, Vir- 
ginia. The copy is complete, excepting 
some maps and engravings. [1631.] Smith 
published " Advertisements for the unexpe- 
rienced planters of New England, or any 
where," &c, said to be the most elaborate of 
his productions. The learned, able and ele- 
gant historian, Grahamc, prefers the writings 
of Smith on colonization, to those of Lord 
Bacon. * At the time of his death, Smith 
was engaged upon a " Historic of the Sea." f 
mous was he even in his own day, that 
he complains of some extraordinary passa- 
ges in his life having been m/s-represented 
on the stage. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

160S. 

The Indians of Virginia ; Their form ami features ; Mode 
of wearing theii hair; Clothing; On iments ; Manner of 
In ing ; Diet ; Towns and cabins ; Arms am! Implements ; 
Religion; Medicine; The Seasons; Hunting; Shain- 
fights ; -Music ; Indian character. 

The Indians of Virginia w ere tall, erect, and 

* Grahnme's His-. 1. S., Amcr. I'M, Vol. I, p. 570. 
! ',, CO n ludes Ins i ml i it thus .— " 1ml Smith's renown will 
forth again, ami once more be commensurate with 
i rt. Ii will grow with the growth of men and let- 
ters in America; and whoh nations of its admirers have 
\ ri lo be born." 
Si ii e the first three chapters <>( tins work were printed, 
ii nred a i opy ol a m v\ " 1 ,ife ol ( !aptain John 
Smith," fy W. Gdinore Simins, Esq.,— a fall ami 

* . I'-.f appi ai ince "I this work, ol Howe's His- 
torical Collections of Vii inia, and of Howison's History 
oi Virginia, the first volume of which has rocentb 
published, arc e\ idenccs '>l a new ly awaki 
a Geld thai lias heen too long nesh eled. 
f Millard's Life of Smith in Appendix. 



28 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. VIII. 



well-proportioned, with high cheek bones, 
eyes dark and brilliant, with a sort of squint, 
hair dark and straight. The chiefs were dis- 
tinguished by a long pendent lock. The In- 
dians had little or no beard. The women 
were their barbers, " who with two shells 
will grate away the hayreof any fashion they 
please." Like all savages, they were fond 
of toys and tawdry ornaments. The princi- 
pal garment was a mantle, in winter dressed 
with the fur, in summer without. But the 
common sort had scarce any thing to hide 
their nakedness save grass or leaves, and in 
summer they all went nearly naked. The 
females,, however, always wore a cincture 
around the middle. Some covered them- 
selves with a mantle of curiously interwoven 
turkey feathers, pretty and comfortable. The 
greater part went barefoot ; some wore moc- 
casons, a rude sandal of buckskin. Some of 
the women tattooed their skins with grotesque 
figures. They adorned the ear with pen- 
dents of copper, or a small living snake, 
green or yellow, or a dead rat. The head 
was adorned with a wing of a bird, a large 
feather, the rattle of a rattle-snake, or the 
hand of an enemy. They painted the head 
and shoulder red with the juice of the puc- 
coon root. 

The red men duel; for (he most part on 
the banks of rivers and near springs. The 
men passed the time in fishing, hunting, war 
or indolence. Labor they despised and as- 
signed to the women. They made mats, 
baskets, pottery, hollowed oul stone mortars, 
pounded corn, made bread, cooked, planted 
corn, gal lered it, carried burthens, &c. In- 
fants they enured lo hardship and expo- 
sure. 

"Their fire they kindle presently by chaf- 
ing a dry pointed sticke in a hole of a little 
square piece of wood, thai firing itselfe will 
so lire the mosse, leanes or anv Mich dry tiling 
that will quickly burne." 

They subsisted mainly upon fish, game, (he 
natural fruits of the earth, and com, which 
they planted. The Tuckahoe root in the 
summer, was a principal article of diet. Their 
cooker) was no less rude than their other 
habits, yet pone and homony have been bor- 
rowed from them, as also, li is said, the mode 
of barbecuing meat. The natives did not re- 
fuse to eat grubs, snakes and tin insecl lo- 
cust. Their bread was most I j of corn, some- 



times of wild-oats * or the seed of the sun- 
flower-. Their salt was only such as could 
be procured from ashes. They were fond of 
" roasting-ears" of corn, and one of their 
festivals was " the green-corn dance." From 
hickory-nuts pounded in a mortar, they ex- 
pressed a liquor called Pawcohiccora. The 
peach-tree was indigenous, and the Indian 
was not ignorant of the mode of drying the 
fruit. In their journies they would provide 
themselves with rockahominy or com parch- 
ed and reduced to a powder. 

The Indians dwelt in towns, the cabins 
slightly built of saplings bent over at th : top 
and tied together and thatched with reeds or 
covered with mats or bark, the smoke esca- 
ping through an aperture at the top. The 
door, if any, was a pendent mat. They sate 
on the ground, the better sort on match- 
coats or mats. Their fortifications consisted 
of palisades, ten or twelve feet high, some- 
times encompassing an entire town, some- 
times a part. Within these enclosures, they 
preserved with pious care their idols and re- 
lics and the remains of their chiefs. 

In hunting and war, they used the bow and 
arrow, the bow usually of locust, the arrow 
of reed, or a wand. "To make the notch of 
his arrow, he hath the tooth of a Beaver, set 
m a sticke, wherewith he grateth it by de- 
grees. Tli arrow was winged with a tur- 
key feather, fastened with glue, extracted 
from " the velvet horns of a Deer." The ar- 
row was bended with an arrow-point of stone. 
These are yet to be found in every part of 
the country. For knives the red men made 
use of sharpened reeds or shells, and for axes 
or hatchets, tomahawks of stone sharpened at 
both ends, fastened to a handle of wood. 
They soon, however, procured iron hatchets 
from the English. Trees they felled by lire. 
Canoes were made by burning and scraping 
with shells and tomahawks. Some of their 
canoes were not less than 40 or .00 feet long. 
The women made a thread of bark or of the 
sinews of the deer, or of a kind of grass 
called Pemminaw. A large pipe, adorned 
with the wings of a bird, or with beads, was 
the symbol of friendship, called " the pipe of 
peace." \ war-council among them was 
styled a. " Matchacomoco." In war they 

» li is said, that they jiathi red tins grain, by ] 
ili, mi c:mors into dm m irslics where n gr< « and shaking 
iln l)i j nd( d stalks i>\ ci i < ii- ..in.'.'. 



1609-11.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



29 



relied mainly on surprise and ambuscade ; in 
the open Held they were timid. Their cru- 
elty, as usual, was proportionate to their cow- 
ardice. The Virginia [ndianswere idolaters. 
Their chief idol, called Okee, represented the 
spirit of evil, to appease whom they burnl 
sacrifices. They were greatly under the con- 
trol of their priests and conjurors. These 
wore a grotesque dress, performed a variety 
of divinations, conjurations and enchant- 
ments, called " Powwowings," after the man- 
ner of wizards and by their superior cunning 
and shrewdness and some scanty knowledge 
of medicine, managed to render themselves 
objects of veneration and to live upon the 
labor of others. The superstition of the sav- 
ages was commensurate with their ignorance. 
Near the falls of the James, about a mile hack 
from the river, there were some impressions voyces and gestures, both in charging and 



kept them within the circle till they were 
slain : sometimes they were driven into the 
water and there captured. The Indian hunt- 
ing alone would stalk behind the skin of a 
deer. Game being more abundant in the 
mountain country, the hunting parties repair- 
ed to the heads of the rivers at tiie proper 
season. This, perhaps, engendered the ('(in- 
stant hostilities thai existed between the Pow- 
hatans of the tide-water region and the Mon- 
acans on the upper waters of the James and 
the Mannahoacks at the head of the Rappa- 
hannock. The Indians were in the habit of 
exercising themselves in sham-fights. " Vpon 
the first flight of arrowes, they gaue such 
horrible shouts and screeches a.- so manyin- 
fernall hell-hounds could not haue made 
them more terrible." " All their actions, 



on a rock, like the footsteps of a giant, be- 
ing about five feet asunder. These the Indi- 
ans declared to be the foot-prints of their 
God. They submitted with fortitude to cruel 
tortures imposed by their idolatry, especially 
in the horrid ordeal of Huskanawing. The 
house in which they kept the Okee, was call- 
ed Quioccasan, and was surrounded by posts 
with men's faces ru ' ', ; and painted. 

Altars for sacrifice were held in great vene- 
ration. The diseases of the Indians were 
not numerous : their renu w and sim- 

ple. Their physic consisted mainly of bark 
and roots of trees. Sweating was a favorite 
remedy, and every town was provided with 
a sweating-house. The patienl isi uing from 
the heated atmosphere, plunged himself in 
cold water, after the manner of tl 
bath. 

The Indians celebrated certain festivals, by 
pastimes, games am! songs. The year they 
divided into five seasons, the budding-time 
of Spring, roasting-ear time, Summer, the 
fall of the leaf and Winter, called Cohonk, 
after the cry of the wild ■_<;{■{■<('. The months 
they designated by such ej as the Moon 

of Stags, the corn Mot n, first Moon of Co- 
honks, &c. Acci i uols on 
strings, or notches on a tally-slick. 

The red men engaged in fishing and hunt- 
ing from their infancy, SO as to become ex- 
perl am! familiar with the haunts of game 
and fish. The luggage of the hut 
ties was borne by women. Deer were taken 
by surrounding tin in ami building fires, which 



retiring, were so strained to the height of 
their qualitie and nature, that the strange- 
oesse thereof made it seeme very delight- 
lull." " For their Musicke they vse a thicke 
cane, on which they pipe us on a Recorder." 
They had also a rude sort of drum and rat- 
tles of gourds or pumpkins. The Indians 
were hospitable ; in their manners easy and 
composed. The chastity of their women 
was not held in much value. 

They were in every thing inconstant, un- 
less where constrained by fear. " Ciaftie, 
timorous, quicke of apprehension and very 
ingenious. Some are of disposition fearfull, 
some bold, most cautelous, ad! savage." Pas- 
sionate and malicious, they seldom forgave 
an injury. They randy stole from one ano- 
ther, lest their conjurors should reveal it, and 
they should be punished. The women were 
" care full not to be suspected of dishonestie 
Lit leaue of their husbands." 



CHAPTER IN. 

1( ; 0:)— Kill. 

Condition of the Colon) at the time of Smith's departure ; 
Lord 15;k 's opinion on the propel materials foi plant- 
ing a Colony ; Affairs ol the Colony ; Assaults of Indi- 
ans ; "Starving Time;" Wreck of the Sea Venture; 
Situation of the English on the island of Bermuda ; 

• Smith, I!. 2, p. 129- 137. Bi verley, B. 3. The r< adei 
who is in quest of a fullei account may find it in Drake's 
Bo 'k of the Indians, Dr. Thatcher's work on the same sub- 
ject, in' Bancroft, vol. 3, chap. xxii. 



30 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. IX. 



They embark for Virginia; Arrive at Jamestown ; Mis- 
ery of the Colony; Jamestown abandoned; The Colo- 
nists meet Lord Delaware's lleet ; Relurn to - Jamestown; 
Delaware's discipline ; The Church at Jamestown; Sir 

George Sinners sails for the Bermudas ; His death . .Mis- 
cellaneous occurrences; Delaware returns to Engl. md. 

Smith upon sailing for England, left at 
Jamestown three ships, seven boats, a suffi- 
cient stock of provision, four hundred and 
ninety odd settlers, twenty pieces of can- 
non, three hundred muskets, with other guns, 
ammunition, pikes, swords, tec, and one hun- 
dred soldiers well acquainted with the In- 
dian language and the nature of the country. 
The colony was provided with fishing nets, 
working tools, apparel, six mares and a 
horse, five or six hundred swine, as many 
hens and chickens, besides some goats and 
sheep. Jamestown was strongly fortified 
with palisades and contained fifty or sixty 
houses. There were besides five or six other 
forts and plantations. There was only one 
carpenter in the colony ; three others, how- 
ever, were learning that trade. There were 
two blacksmiths and two sailors. The set- 
tlers were for the mosl part poor gentlemen, 
serving men, libertines, &c, and with such 
materials the wonder is that the settlement 
was effected at all. Lord Bacon says : — " It 
is a shameful and unblessed tiling to take 
the scum of people, wicked, condemned 
men, with whom you plant and not only so, 
but it spoileth the pi mtation, for they will 
ever live like rogues and not fall to work, 
but be lazy and do mischief, spend victuals 
and be quickly weary.'' 

Immediately upon Smith's departure, tin? 
Indians renewed their attacks. Percy for a 
time administered the government, but it 
soon tell into the hands of the seditious niale- 
contents. Provisions growing scarce, West 
and Ratcliffe embarked in small vessels to 
procure com. RatclifTe inveigled by Pow- 
hatan was slain with thirty of his compan- 
ions, two only escaping, of whom one a 
boy, Henry Spilman, "a young gentleman 
well descended," was rescue;! by Pocahon- 
tas. He afterwards lived many years among 
the Patawomckes, acquired their Ian 
and often proved serviceable : interpreter 
for his countrymen. ' The loss of Captain 

1 Smith, vol. 2, p. 2. Bclkn ip, 2, p. 131, calls bun Spel- 

which is probably correct. He was slam by the 

savages on the banks ol the Potomac in 1C22. Smith, vol. 

', .' ' ' 



Smith was soon felt by the colonists. They 
were now continually exposed to the arrow 
and the tomahawk ; the public store was 
consumed by the commanders and the sava- 
ges ; swords and guns were bartered for food 
with the Indians. By all these evils, within 
six months after Smith's departure, the num- 
ber of English in Virginia was reduced from 
five hundred, to sixty men, women and chil- 
dren. These found themselves in a misera- 
ble starving condition, subsisting on roots, 
herbs, acorns, walnuts, berries and fish. 
Starch became an article of diet, and even 
dogs, cats, rats, snakes, toad-stools and the 
skins of horses. The body of an Indian 
was disinterred and eaten ; nay, at last the 
colonists, like famished hyenas, preyed on 
the dead bodies of each other. And it was 
even alleged that a husband murdered his 
wife for a cannibal repast. * Upon his trial, 
however, it was proved that the cannibalism 
was feigned to palliate the murder. He was 
put to death, being burned according to law. 
This was long remembered as " the starving 
time." Sir Thomas Smith, the treasurer of 
the company was bitterly denounced by the 
sufferers for his neglecting to send the ne- 
cessary supplies. It seemed as if the threat 
of abandoning the colony to its fate, was 
now to be actually carried into effect. But 
the main supplies had been lostby storm and 
shipwn ck. 

It has already been mentioned that the 
Sea- Venture, with Gates, Soiners, and one 
hundred and fifty colonists, had been wreck- 
ed on the coast of Bermudas. Caught in 
■■ the tail of a hericano," and overwhelm- 
ed by the fury of the ocean, the hapless crew 
after vainly contending for three days and 
nights with a leak, at length yielded to de- 
spair. Some sought oblivion of their im- 
pending fate in intoxication. During all 
this time, Sir George Somers, seated on the 
poop, strove to keep toring vessel as 

it as possible, or else she must have 
foundered, and at length descried land. All 
sail being now spread, in a short while the 
Sea-Venture was lodged between two rocks. 
Passengers and supplies were landed in safe- 
ly, and the island which had been looked 

* Smith, vol. 2, p. 2. Slith, 305, "the happiest day 

many ever hoped to see, was when the Indians had killed 

n mare, the people wishing, as she was boiling, that Sir 

Thomas Smith was upon her lack, in the kettle." See 

, Hump, vol. '-', p. 10G .. 



1609-11.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



31 



upon as an enchanted den of Furies, was 
found to bo ;i paradise, blessed with exqui- 
site scenery and a voluptuous atmosphere. 
Fish, fowl, turtle and wild hogs supplied the 
English with abundanl food : the palmetto 
leaf furnished a cover for their cabins. They 
had daily morning and evening prayers, and 
on Sunday divine service was perforim 
two sermons preached by the chaplain, ' 
ter Bucke." Living in the midst of peace and 
plenty, in this sequestered and delightful is- 
land, many of the emigrants lost all desire ever 
to leave it. Gales and Somers, however, [< - 
romantic, having decked the long boat of the 
wrecked vessel, with her batches, despi 
''Master Raven, a very sufficient mari 
with eight men to Virginia for succor. The 
boat was never more beard of. Discord, too, 
found her way among the exiles of Bermudas. 
Gates and Somers, the commanders, " lined 
asunder in this distresse." In the meantime 
the monotony of life was varied by the birth 
of two children, the boy called Bermudas, the 
girl Bermuda, and " amongst all those sor- 
rows, they had a merry English marriage.' 5 
Gates and Somers at length, each of them, 
completed a cedar vessel, constructed after 
the manner of Robinson Crusoe. The one 
was named " The Patience,'" the other " The 
Deliverance." The bark of Sir George Som- 
ers was constructed without the use of any 
iron, save a bolt in her keel. After having 
spent nine months on the island, they sailed 
[May 10th, 1610] for Virginia, and in four- 
teen days reached Jamestown, where they 
found only sixty miserable colonists surviving. 
Sir Thomas Gates, on landing, caused the 
bell to be rung and summoned all to the 
church, where, after a prayer by Mr. Bucke, 
the new commission was read, and Percy, the 
late President, scarcely able to stand, sur- 
rendered up the old patent and his commis- 
sion. Having resolved to abandon the coun- 
try and return to England, they buried their 
ordnance at the gate of the fort, and on the 
7th of June, at beat of drum, the whole com- 
pany embarked in four pinnaces. Some ol 
the people were with difficulty restrained 
from setting lire to the town, but Gates, with 
a. select company, remained on shore till the 
rest had embarked, and he was the last that 
stepped into the boat. Not a tear vva 
at their departure from a spol i iciated with 
so much misery. 



"How near is often the hour of despairto 
that which affords us the true pledge of the 
attainment of our most sanguine wishes." ' 
" Alan's extremity is God's opportunity." At 
noon they readied Hog island. On the 
next morning, while anchored oil' Mulberry 
island, they were met by a long-boat with 
despatches from Lord Delaware, who had ar- 
rived with three vessels. Gates returned on 
the same day to Jamestown. Lord Delaware 
with his vessels arrived there on the 9th of 
June. On the morning of the following day 
his lordship, when he came ashore, fell on 
his knees in silent devotion. An eye-wit- 
ness says: "We cast anchor before James 
Town where we landed, and our much griev- 
ed Governor, first visiting the church, caused 
the bell to be rung, at which all such as were 
aide to come forth of their houses, repayred 
to church, where our minister, Master Bucke, 
made a zealous and sorrowfull prayer, finding 
all things so contrary to our expectations so 
full of misery and misgovernment." t 

The hand of Providence was plainly mani- 
fested in all these circumstances. The arri- 
val of Sir Thomas Gates rescued the Colony 
from the jaws of famine; his prudence saved 
(he fort at Jamestown, which the Colonists, 
upon abandoning it, desired to destroy, so as 
to cut off ail possibility of a return ; had their 
return been longer delayed, the savages might 
have demolished the fort; had they set sail 
sooner, they would probably have missed 
Lord Delaware's fleet, as they had intended 
to sail by way of Newfoundland, in a direc- 
tion contrary to that by which Lord Delaware 
approached. 

His lordship, Governor and Captain Gen- 
eral, i was accompanied by Sir Ferdinand 
Waynman, master of the horse, who died 
shortly afterwards, Captain Holcroft, Captain 
Lawson and other gentlemen. On the day 
after his arrival the Governor landed, attended 
service al the church as already mentioned, 
read his commission and called a council, 
lie was the firs! governor id' Virginia by that 
name. Under his prudent and energetic 
management, discipline and industry were 
speedily restored. The hours of labor were 
set from 6 o'clock in the morning to 10. and 

* Martin's l!i^. N. ('., vol. 1, p. 71. 
t I Purehas, li. 9, chap. vi. 

I Stith, 1 17. These titles were ever afti i given to the 
( 'olonial ( ioi ei nors in ehiel "i Virginia. 



32 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. X. 



from 2 to 4 in the afternoon. The Colonists 
daily attended worship in the church. This 
edifice was sixty feet long and twenty-four 
wide. The chancel of cedar and a commu- 
nion-table of black walnut, with handsome 
wide windows to shut and open according to 
the weather. The pews and pulpit of cedar, 
with a font hewed hollow like a canoe. There 
were two bells hung at the West end. The 
building was so constructed as to be \ 
lighted. The governor had it kept sweet 
•and dressed with flowers. There was a sex- 
ton belonging to it. Two sermons were de- 
livered on Sunday and one on Thursday ; the 
two preachers taking weekly turns. Every 
morning, at about 10 o'clock, a bell cave the 
signal for prayers and so again at 4 o'clock 
in the afternoon. On Sunday, when the 
governor went to church, he u as accompa- 
nied by all the councillors, captains, other 
officers and all the gentlemen, with a guard 
of halberdiers in the governors littery, with 
handsome scarlet cloaks, to the number of 
fifty walking on each side and behind him. 
The governor sate in the choir, on a green 
velvet cushion laid on a table before him, on 
which he knelt. On each side of him sate 
the councillors, captains and other officers, 
each in their places. The governor in re- 
turning from church was escorted back to 
his house in the same way. * 

Some of the houses at Jamestown were 
covered with boards, some with Indian mats ; 
they were comfortable and securely protected 
from the savages by the forts, t 

The new governor, Lord Delaware, was a 
generous patron of the Colony, but it was as 
yet too much in its infancy, to maintain the 
state suitable to him and his splendid retinue. 
On the 15th of June, Sir George Somers 
sailed for Bermuda to procure supplies for the 
Colony. He died on the island at a spot, on 
which the town of St. George commemmo- 
rates his name. It was said of him, that lie 
was " a land) upon land, a lion at sea." As 
his life had been divided between the old 
world and the new, so, after his death, his 
remains were buried pari at Bermuda, pari in 
England. 

The governor despatched Captain 
io the Potomac for corn, which he succeeded 
in procuring, by the aid of (he youthful pris- 

1 Strae.hey's Narrative in Purchas. 
t Smith, vol. '1, p. 5. 



r, Henry Spilman. Lord Delaware erec- 
ted two forts, called Henry and Charles, after 
the King's sons. These forts were built on 
a level tract, bordering Southampton river, 
and it was intended that settlers arriving from 
England, should first land there, to refresh 
themselves after the confinement of the voy- 
age. Sir Thomas Gates now returned to 
England; Captain Percy was despatched with 
fifty or sixty men to chastise the Paspaheghs 
for some depredations. They fled before the 
English, who burnt their cabins, captured 
their cpieen and her children, and shortly af- 
ter ungenerously slew them. Lord Delaware 
visiting the falls with some soldiers, was as- 
saulted by the Indians, who killed three or 
lour of his men. Shortly after, his lordship 
finding himself in feeble health, embarked 
for England, [March 28th, 1611.] 



CHAPTER X. 
1611—1(514. 

ovemor; New Charier; Sir Thomas Dale, Gov- 
ernor; Code of Martial Laws ; Dale founds the town of 
Henrico; Plantations Hope in Faith and Coxendale ; 
Rock Hall; Bermuda Hundred; Upper and Lower 
Hundred; Rochdale; West Shirley; Digges' Hundred ; 
Jamestown; Argall makes Poehahontas a prisoner and 
carries her to Jamestown Negotiations v\ iih Powhatan ; 
Dale, accompanied by Poehahontas, makes an expedition 
up York river; Burns Powhatan's cabins at Werowo- 
comoeo ; Interviews with the Indians ; Rolfe and Sparks- 
sent to Powhatan; Dale returns to Jamestown; Rolfe 
marries Poehahontas ; The Chickahominies enter into 
a treaty of peace; Community of goods abolished ; Ar- 
gall's expeditions against the French settlements in Aca- 
dia; He captures the Dutch fort at New Amsterdam ; 
Hainer's visit to Powhatan. 

Delaware was succeeded by Capt. George 

Percy, who was gentle and courageous but of 
a mediocre capacity. The number of Colo- 
nists was now about two hundred, with pro- 
vision for ten months. Before Lord Delaware' 
reached England, the council and company 
despatched lor Virginia Sir Thomas Dale, 
with three vessels, one hundred cattle, two 
hundred hogs and other provision. 

irch 10, 1612.] Another charter was 
granted to the London company, extending 
the boundaries of the Colony, so as to in- 
clude all islands lying within three hundred 
leagues of tin' continent. The object of ihi s 



1611.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



33 



extension was to embrace the Bermudas or 
Somer Islands; but the London Company 
shortly afterwards sold them to one hundred 
and twenty of its members, who were incor- 
porated into a distinct company. * 

These islands took their name from Sir 
George Somers. The new charter contained 
feather provisions, ordering general quarterly 
meetings of the company, thus making the 
corporation republican, encouraging emigra- 
tion, prohibiting desertions and misrepresen- 
tations of the Colony and authorizing a lot- 
tery. 

Sir Thomas Dale, who had served in the 
Low Countries, sent out as Governor, arrived 
in Virginia May 10th, 1611. He brought 
over with him, for the government of the 
Colony, a code of " Lawes diuine, morall 
and martiall," compiled by Sir Thomas Smith 
from the military laws of the Low Countries, 
and sent, as has been alleged, by him without 
the sanction of the company. But since 
the corporation in no way interposed its au- 
thority in contravention to the new code, 
their sanction of it must be presumed. Sev- 
eral of these laws were barbarous, inhuman, 
written in blood. They even reduced the 
church under Martial law. However, under 
Dale's administration, sanguinary punish- 
ments were not often inflicted.* The gov- 
ernment indeed was, in practice, stringent 
and peremptory, but perhaps not much more 
so than was demanded by the exigencies of 
the Colony. Faction and mutiny had already 
well nigh involved it in ruin. 

Sir Thomas Dale found the Colony relaps- 
ing into indolence and improvidence. Touch- 
ing at Kiquotan he set all hands there to 
planting corn. At Jamestown he found the 
settlers busily engaged in their usual occupa- 
tion — playing bowls in the streets. He set 
them to work, felling trees, repairing houses, 
and providing materials for enclosing the new 
town, which lie proposed to build. To find 
a site for it, he, with a hundred men, surveyed 
Nansemond river and the James to the falls, 
and finally pitched upon a high ground on- 
circled by the river near Arrohattock. Here 



* Mm. St;it., vol. 1, p. 98. Stith, p. 127, and Appendix 
No. 3. 

t Smith, vol. 2, p. 10-11. Stith, 122. Burk 1, 165-195, 
and Appendix 304, Hawks' Narrative 21-27. Where the 
" Lawes diuine" may be seen. Force's Hist. Tracts, vol. 
3. pp. 9-68. 



was built the town of Henrico * so called in 
honor of the heir apparent Brince Henry. 
It was .seated on a peninsula surrounded on 
three sides by the river, and impaled across 
from water to water. There; were three 
streets of well-framed houses, a handsome 
church of wood completed and tin- founda- 
tion laid of a better one to be built of brick, be- 
sides store-houses, watch-houses, tec. Upon 
the river-edge there were live houses wherein 
lived "the honester sort of people as Farmers 
in England, and they keepe continuall cen- 
tinell for the towne's securitie." About two 
miles back from the town was a second pal- 
isade, " neere two miles in length from Riuer 
to Riuer guarded by seuerall Commanders, 
with a good quantity of Corne-ground im- 
pailed sufficiently secured," &.c. On the 
south side a plantation was established called 
Hope in Faith and Coxendale, with five forts 



* Vestiges of the town are stdl to be traced on Cox's Is- 
land, (formerly Farrar's,) near Varina. Some curious 
errors respecting its site have crept into several of our his- 
tories. Burk, vol. 1.. p. 166, says: "The ruins of this 
place, called Henrico in honor of one of the sons of the 
monarch, are stdl visible at Tuckahoe," and for authority 
Stub, p. 121 is referred to. But Stith's words are, "The 
rums of tins town are still plainly to lie traced and distin- 
guished upon the land of the late Colonel William Ran- 
dolph of Tuckahoe, just without the entrance into Farrar's 
Island" Now Farrar's Island is twelve miles below the 
falls, whereas Tuckahoe is as many above. There is 
another mistake in a note on the same page of Burk— "This 
town, (Henrico,) stood at the mouth of the river and was 
accounted but five miles by la. ,1 from Henrico." It ought 
to read " This town Bermuda, &c. But as if there was 
some fatality in the case, Keith has fall* n intoa mistake as 
to the situation of this old town. On page 124, he sats, 
that. Sir Thomas Dale " proceeded all the way up James 
river until he came to a high rising ground, about twelve 
miles above the falls," which being naturally fortified and al- 
most surrounded by water, he pitched on that place for his 
intended purpose," and adds that it was "about fifty miles 
above Jamestown." Now it requires no .pineal 

acumen to see that a place only "about fifty miles above 
Jamestown" could not be " about twelve miles above the falls." 
It is easy to account for Keith's mistake. According to 
Smith, Book I, p. 10, Henrico was built "upon a highland 
environed with the main river, some twelve miles from the 
falls, by Arrohattock." It is evident that Keith mistook 
'■twelve miles from the falls" to mean twelve miles above 
them, instead of below. According to Smith as above rc- 
fened to and Beverley, B. 1. p. 2."., Henrico was near Ar- 
rohattock, and about fifty miles above Jamestown. Airo- 
hattock is laid down on Smith's map aboul twelve miles 
below the falls and on the North side of the river. Hen- 
rico w .., five miles from Bermuda and situated on a penin- 
sula encircled by a bend of the river. According to Stith, 
the most accurate of our historians and who lived in 1746 
at Varina, Henrico slood "just without the entrance into 
Farrar's Island," and this is now known as Cox's Island. 
See Sou. Bit. Mess, for June, 1845. farrar's Island was 
probably called after Sir Nicholas Farrar, deputy treasurer. 



34 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. X. 



called respectively. Charity, Elizabeth, Pa- 
tience and Mount Malady, "a guest-house 
for sicke people," on the spot where, after- 
wards, in Stith's time, Jefferson's church 
stood. On the same side of the river the 
'Rev. Alexander Whitaker, called " the Apos- 
tle of Virginia," v established his parsonage, 
a well-framed house, and one hundred acres 
of land called Rosk Hall. 

The Appomattox Indians h; 
ted some depredations, Sir Thomas Dale, 
about Christmas, [1611,] captured their town, 
seized their corn am! slew some of them. 
This town was five miles distant from Henri o. 
The governor pleased with the situation es- 
tablished a plantation there and called it Ber- 
mudas, f This place is still known as Ber- 
muda Hundred and is the port of Richmond 
for ships of heavy burthen. Dale laid out 
several hundreds there, the Upper and Lower 
Rochdale, West Shirley and Digges 5 Hun I 
In conformity with the newly introduced 
martial law, each hundred was subjected to 
the control of a captain. The Nether hun- 
dred was enclosed with a fence two miles 
long running from river to river. Here, 
[1611,] within a hall' mile of each other were 
many " faire houses already built besides par- 
ticular men's houses neere to the number of 
fiftie." Rochdale, enclosed by a fence foui 
miles long, was planted with houses along 
the enclosure, [fere the hogs and cattle en- 
joyed a circuit of twenty miles to graze in 
securely. 

About fifty miles below these stood James- 
town, on a fertile peninsula, with two rows 
of trained houses, some of them with two 
stories and a garret, three large store-houses, 
and the town well enclosed. The town and 
the neighboring region were well peopled. 
Forty miles below Jamestown, at Kiquotan, 
the settlers enjoyed an abundance of fish, 
fowl and venison. I 

Captain Argall now arriving from England 
in a \essel with forty men was sent to the 
Potomac to trade for corn. He managed to 
ingratiate himself with Japazaws, a friendly 
chief, and from him learned that Pocahontas 

* Hawks' Narrative, 29. Ho was the son of the cele- 
brated Dr. William Whitaker, master of St. John's, Cam- 
bridge. 

t'l'he Bermudas Islands were so called after Bermudez, 
,-. Spunsli navigator who discovered them. Martin's Hist. 
N. C, vol. 1, p. 75. 

t Smith, vol. i, p. 13. 



was there. She had never visited Jamestown 
since Smith's departure, and on the remote 
banks of the Potomac she thought herself 
unknown. Japazaws, bribed by Argall, be- 
trayed the artless and unsuspecting girl into 
his hands. When she discovered the treach- 
ery she burst into tears. Argall carried her 
to Jamestown. A messenger had been ai- 
re; 1} .-"lit to inform Powhatan that his fa- 
ll er was a prisoner and must be 
ransomed with the men, arms, £s.c, taken 
from the English. Three months thereafter 
he restored seven English prisoners and some 
unserviceable muskets, and sent word that if 
his daughter was released he would make 
restitution for all injuries and give the Eng- 
lish five hundred bushels of corn, and forever 
remain in peace and amity. They, however, 
refused to surrender Pocahontas until full 
satisfaction was rendered. Powhatan was 
deeply offended and nothing more was heard 
from him for a long time. At length Sir 
Thomas Dale, the governor, with Capt. Ar- 
gall's vessel and some others, manned with one 
hundred and fifty men, went up the York 
river, taking Pocahontas with him to Wero- 
wocomoco. Here, meeting with a scornful 
defiance, the English landed, burnt the cabins 
and destroyed every thing. On the next day 
Dale proceeding up the river, concluded a 
truce with the savages. He then sailed up 
to Matchot, a residence of Powhatan, on 
the south side of the Pamunkey, near its 
mouth. Here four hundred warriors were 
found. The English landing, the savages 
demanded a truce till Powhatan could be 
heard from, which being granted, two of 
Powhatan's sons went on board the vessel to 
see their sister, Pocahontas. Finding her 
well, contrary to what they had heard, they 
were delighted and promised to persuade 
their father to make peace and forever be 
friends with the whites. John Rolfe and 
master Sparks were despatched to let Pow- 
hatan know these proceedings. He enter- 
tained them hospitably, hut would not admit 
them into liis presence. However, they saw 
his brother, Opechaiicanough. who engaged 
lo use his interest with Powhatan in favor of 
peace, it now being April, the season for 
planting corn, Sir Thomas Dale returned to 

" Supposed to be id< ntical with Eltham, the ancientseat 
ol lip 1 Bassets in New Kent, and which derives its uanie 
from an English sent in Co. Kent. 



1613.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



35 



Jamestown intending not to renew hostilitie; 
until the next harves t. 

N"ow long before this time, "master John 
Rolfe, ah honest gentleman, of good beha- 
viour, had been in love with Pocahontas and 
she with him." Rolfe, agitated by the con- 
flicting emotions of this romantic passion, in 
a letter requested the advice of Sir Thomas 
Dale on the occasion. He readil} gave his 
consent to the union. Pocahontas likewise 
communicated the affair to her brother, so 
that the report of the marriage soon n 
Powhatan, and it proved, likewise, accepta- 
ble to him. Within ten days, he sent Opa- 
chisco, an aged uncle of Pocahontas, and her 
two brothers, to attend the wedding and fill 
his place at the ceremony. The marriagi 
took place early in April, 1611, at James- 
town. 

This union became a happy link of peace 
and harmony between the red man and the 
white. The warlike Chickahominies now 
came to propose a treaty of peace. This 
tierce and numerous tribe, dwelling on the 
borders of the Chickahominy, were near 
neighbors to the English. They had long 
maintained their independence and refused 
to acknowledge the sceptre of Powhatan. 
They now sent two runners to Governor Dale 
with presents, apologising for all former in- 
juries, and offering to submit themselves to 
king James, and relinquish the name of Chick- 
ahominies and be called Tassautessus, (Eng- 
lish.) They desired, however, still to be gov- 
erned by their own laws, under the authority 
of eighl of their own chiefs. 

Accordingly Governor Dale, with C; 
Argall and fifty men, on the banks of the 
Chickahominy, concluded a treaty of peace 
with them, and they ratified it by acclama- 
tion. An aged warrior then arose and ex- 
plained the treaty, addressing himself suc- 
cessively to the old men, the young, and the 
women and children. The ( ininies, 

apprehensive of being reduced under the 
despotism of Powhatan, sheltered themselves 
under the protection of the whites; what a 
proof of the atrocious barbarity of a 
whose imaginary virtues have I n o often 
celebrated by poets, orators and historians, 
and who have been described as renewing 
i he golden age of innocent felicity ! 



* Smith, vol. 2, ;>. 10. 



in avoi ! ble at first, the system 
of working in common and b< ing fed out of 
the public store, had hitherto paralyzed in- 
dustry and retarded the growth of the Colo- 
ny. An important alteration was now effec- 
ted. Sir Thomas Dale allotted to each man 
three acres of cleared ground, from which 
he was I to contribute to the public 

store only two and a hall' barrels of corn. 
These regulations, raising the colonists above 
the condition of absolute servitude and cre- 
ating a new incentive to exertion, proved 
verj acc< ptal !e. * 

Although I : de's administration, especially 
il th ■ fir e was very rigorous, yet it does not 
i inar} pu iishm< nts were 
ted. Several of the colonists were 
executed at different times, for treasonable 
!v provoked, in some instan- 
ces at least, by the tyranny of the govern- 
ment. Of one of these unfortunate men, 
Smith says: — " This Jeffrey Jlbbots, howeuer 
this author [Hamor] censures him, and the 
Gouerriour executes him, 1 know he had long 
served both in Ireland and Netherlands ; here 
hee was a sargeant of my companie and 1 
neuer saw in Virginian more sufficient soul- 
dier, l< sse turbulent, a better wit, more hardy 
or industrious, nor any more forward to cut 

off them that soughl to abandon the C - 

trie or wrong the Colonie ; how ingratefully 

leserts might hee rewarded, enuied or 

;ted, or his farre inferiors prefered to 

, not, bul such occa ions 

i a aint, mud) more a man, to an 

ised passionate impatience; how euer 

il seemes he hath beene punished for his of- 

that neuer was rewarded Cor his de- 

[1613.] Th s governor I ning that a 
French ■ I [settled in Ve 

about the 44th degree of latitude, despatch- 
ed Captain Argall to drive them off. His 
of seven -red! \ e sels, sixty 
soldiers and fourteen guns. The French co- 
lony w tinted on Mounl Desert 
island, near the river Penobscol and within 
the present hounds of Maine. The French 
being dispersed in the woods, soon yielded 
ierior force. Argall supplied the 



* I. 1, I>. 10. Gnsli: mi 's Am. 

. n I. 1, p. 04. C ■ •■••' ■-■ ?■ 151. 

'l'iit' authoritii t "ii the si ' '"'}'■ 



36 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. X. 



oners with a fishing vessel, in which they re- 
turned to France. Fifteen of them, however, 
and a Jesuit missionary, were brought to 
Jamestown. Another Jesuit had been slain 
in the skirmish. On Argall's arrival at James- 
town, he received an order from Gates to 
return to Acadia and destroy all the French 
settlements and forts to the 46th degree ; 
which was accordingly executed. This pro- 
ceeding, according to some writers, was lit- 
tle better than piracy, since the chartered 
limits of Virginia did not extend beyond the 
45th degree ; others, however, hold that it 
was justified by the charter of 1609. 

On his return, Argall touched at New Am- 
sterdam, and demanded of the Dutch gover- 
nor there a surrender of that place to the 
king of England and the governor of Virgi- 
nia under him. The colony was accordingly 
surrendered, but recovered again by the Dutch 
not long after. * 

Ralph Hamer t having received from Sir 
Thomas Dale leave to visit Powhatan, taking 
with him Thomas Savage as interpreter and 
two Indian guides, started from Bermuda in 
the morning, and reached Matchot on the 
evening of the next day. Powhatan recog- 
nizing the boy, Thomas Savage, said to him, 
"My child, I gaue you leaue, being my boy, 
to goe see your friends and these foure yeeres 
I have not seene you nor heard of my owne 
man JVamontack, I sent to England, though 
many ships haue beene returned from thence." 
Turning then to Hamer, he demanded the 
chain of pearl which he had sent to Sir Tho- 
mas Dale, at his first arrival, with the under- 
standing that whenever he should send a 
messenger, he should wear thai chain about 
his neck ; otherwise he was to be hound and 
sent home. Sir Thomas had made such an 
arrangement, and, on this occasion, had di- 
rected his page to give the necklace to Ha- 
mer, but the page had forgotten it. However, 
Hamer being accompanied by two of his own 
people, Powhatan was satisfied, and conduct- 
ed lum to the royal cabin, where a guard of 
two hundred bowmen stood always in atten 



* Compare the varinnl accounts of Grnhanie's History ol 
the l ! . States, Amer. Edition, vol, 1, p. 65. Si it h, p. 133. 
Bancroft, vol. 1, p. 138. Martin's History of \. C, vol. I, 
p. 77. Bancroft, dates Argall's Expedition in 1013. Gra- 
hame, Stith arid Martin in IC1 t. 

t Smith, vol. '_'. p. 19. There appears to be a mistake in 
affixing William Parker's name t<> the relation ol this visit, 
foi it was evidently written l>y Hamer. 



dance. He offered his guest a pipe of to- 
bacco, and then enquired after his brother, 
Sir Thomas Dale, and his daughter, Pocahon- 
tas, and his unknown son-in-law, Rolfe, and 
" how they lived and loved ?" 

Being answered that Pocahontas was so 
well satisfied, that she would never live with 
him again, he laughed and demanded the 
object of his visit. Hamer gave him to un- 
derstand that his message was private, to be 
made known only to him and Papaschicher, 
one of the guides, who was in the secret. 
Forthwith Powhatan ordered out all his peo- 
ple, except his two queens, that always sit by 
him, and bade Hamer deliver his message. 
He then, by his interpreter, informed him 
that Sir Thomas Dale had sent him two pie- 
ces of copper, five strings of white and blue 
beads, five wooden combs, ten fish-hooks and 
a pair of knives, and would give him a grind- 
stone when he would send for it. Hamer 
went on to say that, his brother, Dale, hear- 
ing of the charms of his younger daughter, 
desired that he would send her to Jamestown, 
as well because he intended to marry her, as 
on account of the desire of Pocahontas to 
see her, and he believed that there could be 
no better bond of peace and friendship than 
such an union. While Hamer was speaking, 
Powhatan repeatedly interrupted him, and 
when he had ended, the old chief replied: — 
" I gladly accept your salute of loue and 
peace, which while I liue I shall exactly 
keepe. His pledges thereof I receiue with 
no lesse thanks, although they are not so 
great as 1 have receiued before. But for my 
daughter I haue sold her within these few 
daies to a great Werowance, three days jour- 
ney from me, for two bushels of Rawre- 
noke." Hamer : — " 1 know your highness 
by returning the Rawrenoke might call her 
againe, to gratifie his brother, Sir Thomas 
Dale, and the rather b icause she is but twelue 
yeeres old. And besides its fori ling a band 
of peace, you shall haue in return for her 
three times the value of the Rawrenoke in 
lltads, Topper, Hatchets, £vc'' Powha- 
tan: "I loue my daughter as my life, and 
though I have many children, 1 delight in 
none so much as her, and if I should not 
often see her, 1 could not possibly liue, 
and if he she liued at Jamestown I could 
not see her, hauing resolued on no termes to 
put myselfe into your hands, or go amongst 



1614.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



37 



you. Therefore I desire you to vrge me no 
further, but returne my brother this answer — 
I desire no firmer assurance of his friend- 
ship than the promise hoe hath made. From 
me he lias a pledge — one of my daughters, 
which so long as she Hues shall be suffi- 
cient ; when she dies, he shall haue another. 
I hold if not a brotherly part to desire to be- 
reaue me of my two children at once. Far- 
ther tell him that though he had no pledge 
at all, hee need not fear any iniurie from me 
or my people : there haue beene too many 
of his men and mine slaine, and by my prov- 
ocation there neuer shall be any more, (I 
who haue power to performe it haue said 
it,) even if I should haue iust cause, for I 
am now old and would gladly end my daies 
in peace ; if you offer me iniurie, my coun- 
trie is large enough for me to goe from you. 
This I hope will satisfie my brother. Now 
since you are wearie and I sleepie we will 
here end." So Hamer and his companions 
lodged there that night. While they were 
at Matchot, they saw William Parker, who 
had been made prisoner three years before 
at fort Henry. He had grown so like an In- 
dian in complexion and manner, that his 
countrymen recognized him only by his lan- 
guage. He begged them to intercede for 
his release with Powhatan, but upon their 
undertaking it he replied, " You haue one 
of my daughters and I am satisfied, but 
you cannot see one of your men with mee, 
bu1 you must haue him away or breake 
friendship: if you must needs have him. you 
shall goe home without guides, and if any 
euill befall you thanke your seines." They 
answered that if any harm befell them he 
must expect revenge from his brother Dale. 
At this Powhatan in a passion left them; 
but returning to supper entertained (hem 
with a pleasant countenance. About mid- 
night lie awoke them ami promised to lei 
them return in the morning with Parker ami 
charged them to remind his brother Dale to 
.-end him ten large pieces of copper, a sha- 
ving knife, a frowl, a grindstone, a ii"!. !';•',- 
hooks and other such presents. A\\<\ lest 
they mi-lil forget, he made them write the 
list in a hook thai he had. They requesting 
him to give them the hook, he declined, say- 
ing it did him much good to shew il to stran- 
gers. * 

* Smith, vol. 2, p 2] 



CHAPTER XI. 

Kill. 

Raleigh publishes lii.s "History of the World;" C 
Smith in. lives a voyage lo New England; Pocahontas 
baptized ; Argall returns to England : The Lottery drawn ; 
The Colonists invested with a fixed property in the soil ; 
Sir Thomas Dale embarks foi ! ■'. I in !. accompanied by 
Pocahontas and her husband ; George Yeardley deputy 
Governor . Culture ol Tobacco introduced into Virginia ; 
Expedition against the ChicAahominies ; Pocahontas in 
England; Captain Smith's rei ation of her to 

the notice of the Queen ; Smith's interview with Poca- 
hontas at Brentford ; Tomocomo ; Pocahontas presented 
at Court; Her Death; Her name; Nantaquaus, her 
brother ; Her sisters, Cleopatre and Mattachanna; Po- 
cahontas leaves a son ; Her descendants ; Vindication 
of Smith frotii the censure east upon him for not having 
married Pocahontas. 

During this year, [1614,] Sir Walter Ra- 
leigh published his "History of the World," 
and Captain John Smith made a voyage to 
North Virginia and gave it the name of New 
England. 

Pocahontas was now carefully instructed 
in the Christian religion, and such was her 
improvement, that after some time she lost 
all desire to return to her father and retained 
no fondness for the rude society of her own 
people. Her union with Rolfe was made 
happy by mutual devotion. She had already 
before her marriage openly renounced the 
idolatry of her country, confessed the faith 
of Christ and had been baptized. " Master 
Whitaker," the preacher, in a letter dated 
June 18th, 1614, " much museth that so few 
of our English ministers that were so hot 
against the surplice and subscription come 
hither, where neither is spoken of." 

,\i the end of June, Captain Argall re- 
turned to England with tidings of all these 
auspicious events. The company then pro- 
ceeded to draw the lottery, which had been 
made up to promote the interests ol" the 
Colony. This, it is said, was the first in- 
of raising money by this mode in 
England. Twenty-nine thousand pounds 
were thus contributed lo the ( lolony. Bui 
Parliament shortly after prohibited this per- 
nicious practice. 

The year 1615 is remarkable for the estab- 
lishment of a li\ed property in the soil, fifty 
acres of land being granted by the company 



38 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XI. 



to every freeman in absolute right.* This 
salutary change was brought about mainly 
by the efforts of Sir Thomas Dale, one of 
the best of our early governors. Sir Thomas 
having now established good order at James- 
town, appointed George Yeardl'ey to be dep- 
uty governor in his absence and embarked 
for England, accompanied by the Princess 
Pocahontas and her husband Rolfe. They 
arrived at Plymouth June 12, 1616. t 

" That Aristocraticall Gouernment by a 
President and Councell is long since remo- 
ved and those hateful! effects thereof to- 
gether. Order and diligence have repayred 
what confusion and idlenesse had distemper- 
ed." The peace with the Indians " hath 
yeelded many benefits both opportunity of 
lawfull purchase of a great part of the Coun- 
trey from the Natiues freely and willingly 
relinquishing and selling the same for Cop- 
per, or other Commodities, (a thing of no 
small consequence to the conscience when 
the milde Law of Nature, not that violent 
Law of Amies, lays the foundation of their 
possession.") 

" The places inhabited by the English are 
Henrico and the limits, Bermuda Nether 
Hundred, West and Shcrley Hundred, James 
Town, Kequoughtan, Dale's gift." I At 
Henrico there were now thirty-eight men 
and boys, of whom twenty-two were farm- 
ers. Rev. William Wickham was the min- 
ister at this place. This was the seat of the 
college established for the education of the 
natives. Hither they had already brought 
some of their children of both sexes to be 
taught. At Bermuda Nether Hundred, [Pres- 
quile,] the number of inhabitants was 119. 
" Captain Yeardley, Deputy-Gouernor lives 
most here." Master Alexander Whitaker, 
the minister. At West and Shirley Hundred 
there were twenty-five men under Capt. 
Madison. At Jamestown fifty under Capt. 
Francis West. Rev. Mr. Bucke minister. 
At Kecoughtan Capt. Webb commanded. 
Rev. Mr. Mays the minister. ' ; Dale's Gift is 
vpon the Sea neere Cape Charles where were 
17 under Lieutenanl Cradock." The total 
population of the Colony at this time was 

* Chalmers' Introduc, vol. l,p, in. 

t ."Sir Walter Raleigh aftei thirte< n yi arsol confineim nl 
in the Tower had been released on the 17th of March pie 
ceding. Ins altogether prolwble that he sum Pocahontas. 

t Purchas, vol. .">, p 8 IG 



three hundred and fifty-one. * Sir Thomas 
Dale " at one hale with a saine caught five 
thousand" fish, " three hundred of which 
were as bigge as Cod, the least of the resi- 
due a kind of Salmon Trout two foot long, 
yet durst he not aduenture on the maine 
Skul," [school,] for fear it would destroy his 
nets. 

Yeardley turned the attention of the Col- 
ony to tobacco as the most saleable com- 
modity that they could raise, and its cultiva- 
tion was introduced into Virginia in this 
year for the first time, t "The English doe 
now finde this countrey so correspondent to 
their constitutions, that it is more rare to 
heare of a man's death in Virginia then in 
that proportion of people in England." t 
The Chickahominies refusing to pay the trib- 
ute of corn agreed upon by the treaty, Yeard- 
ley went up their river with one hundred men, 
and after killing some and making some 
prisoners, brought off a hundred bushels of 
their corn. On his return he met Opechan- 
canough at Ozinies about twelve miles from 
the mouth of the Chickahominy. In this 
expedition Henry Spilman, who had been 
rescued from death by Pocahontas, now a 
captain, acted as interpreter. 

In the meantime Pocahontas, in London, 
by the care of her husband and friends, was 
taught to speak English intelligibly. Her 
manners were softened by English refine- 
ment, and her mind enlightened with the 
truths of religion. Having given birth to a 
son, the Virginia company provided for the 
maintenance of them both, and many per- 
sons of quality were very kind to her. Be- 
fore she reached London, Captain Smith, in 
requital for her former heroic kindness to 
him, prepared an account of her in "a little 
booke" and presented it to Queen Anne. 
But at this time, being about to embark for 
New England, he could not pay such atten- 
tions to her as he desired and she well de- 
served. Nevertheless, learning that she was 
staving at Brentford, where she had repaired 
to avoid the smoke of the city, he went ac- 
companied by several friends to see her. Af- 
ter a modest salutation, without uttering a 
word, she turned away and hid her fare as if 
displeased. She remained in that posture 

* [bid, 836-7. 

} Chalmers' Introduc, vol. 1, p. 11. 

J Purohas his Pilgrims, vol. p. 5,836. 



1614.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



39 



for two or three hours, her husband, Smith 
and the rest of the company having quitted 
the room, and Smith now regretting that he 
had written to the queen that Pocahontas 
could speak English. At length, however, 
she began to talk and touchingly reminded 
him of the kindness she had shown him in 
her own country, saying, " you did promise 
Powhatan, what was yours should bee his and 
he the like to you ; you called him father, 
being in his land a stranger, and for the same 
reason so I must call you." But Smith, on 
account of the king's overweening and pre- 
posterous jealousy of the royal prerogative, 
felt constrained to decline the appellation of 
" father," for she was a king's daughter. 

She then exclaimed with a firm look — 
"Were you not afraid to come into my fa- 
ther's countrie and cause feare in him and all 
his people (but mee) and feare you here that 
I should call you lather? I tell you then I 
will, and you shall call me childe and so 1 
will bee for euer and euer your countrywo- 
man. They did tell vs alwaies you \\qyc dead 
and I knew no other 'till I came to Plimoth ; 
yet Powhatan did command JJttamattomakkin 
to seeke you and know the truth, because 
your countriemen will lie much." It is re- 
markable that Rolfe, her husband, must have 
been privy to the deception thus practised on 
her. Are we to attribute this to his secret 
fear that she would never marry him until she 
believed that Smith was dead? 

Tomocomo, or Uttamattomakkin, husband 
of Matachanna, one of Powhatan's daugh- 
ters, being esteemed a knowing one among 
his people, Powhatan had sent him out to 
England in company of Pocahontas, to num- 
ber the people there, and bring back an ac- 
count of that country. Upon landing at 
Plymouth he provided himself according to 
his instructions with a long stick, and by 
notching it, undertookto keep a tally of all the 
men he could see. Buthesoon grew weary 
of the task and gave it out in despair. Meet- 
ing with Captain Smith in London, Uttamat- 
tomakkin told him that Powhatan had order- 
ed him to seek him out, in order that he 
might show him the English God, the king, 
queen and prince. Being informed that lie 
had already seen the king, he denied it ; but 
on being convinced of it, he said to Smith, 
" you gaue Powhatan a while Dog, which 
Powhatan fed as himselfe, but your king gaue 



mi 1 nothing and I am better than your white 
Dog." On his return to Virginia, when ques- 
tioned by Powhatan as to the number of peo- 
ple in England; he answered, "count the 
stars in the heavens, the leaves on the trees, 
the sands on the sea-shore." 

During Smith's short stay in London, he 
went in company with some gentlemen of 
the court and others of his acquaintance to 
\i>it Pocahontas. They were satisfied that 
the hand of providence was in her conver- 
sion and declared that they had "seen many 
English ladies worse favoured, proportioned 
and behavioured." She was presented by 
Lady Delaware, attended by the lordlier hus- 
band and by other persons of quality, to the 
king and queen, who graciously received her. 
She was styled " the Lady Pocahontas." She 
was also present at masquerades and other 
puli lie entertainments. 

Early in 1617, John Rolfe prepared to em- 
bark for Virginia, with his wife and child, in 
Captain ArgalPs vessel, the George. But at 
this time it pleased God to take her unex- 
pectedly from the world. She died at Graves- 
end, on the Thames. As her life had been 
sweet and lovely, so her death was serene 
and crowned with the hopes of religion. * 
Her real name it is reported, was Matoax, f 
which the people of her nation concealed 
from the English and changed it to Poca- 
hontas, \ from a superstitious fear lest know- 
ing her true name, they should do her some 
injury. After her conversion, she was bap- 
tized by the name of Rebecca. § Her bro- 
ther Nantaquaus, or Nantaquoud, shewed 
Captain Smith "exceeding great courtesy," 
interceding with his father in behalf of the 
captive, and was " the manliest, comeliest, 
boldest spirit he ever saw in a savage." One 
of the sisters of Pocahontas was named Cleo- 
patre, another Matachanna, already men- 
tioned. " Pocahontas, with her wild train, 
visited Jamestown as freely as her father's 
habitation," and was " of a great spirit how- 
ever her stature." She died at the age of 
twenty-two. Her infant son, Thomas, was 



■ Smith, vol. 2, [i. 3:!. Stith, p. 146. Campbell's Hist, 
oi \ a., |'. 52. 

+ Stith, p. 136 and 285. 

J '1'ln' word Pocahontas, according to Heckwelder, sig- 
nifies a "rivulet between two lulls." 

s \ The ceremony of her baptism lias bei n made (he sub- 
ject of a picture by Chapman, exhibited in the rutuudu of 
the Capitol at Washington. 



40 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XII. 



left for a time at Plymouth, under the care 
of Sir Lewis Stukely, * and afterwards edu- 
cated by his uncle, Henry Rolfe, of London. 
Thomas Rolfe f came over to Virginia; be- 
came a person of fortune and note, and left 
an only daughter, Jane, who married Colonel 
Robert Boiling, \ by whom she left an only 
son,. Major John Boiling, father of Colonel 
John Boiling, and several daughters, who 
married respectively Colonel Richard Ran- 
dolph, Colonel John Fleming, Doctor Wil- 
liam Gay, Mr. Thomas Eldridge and Mr. 
James Murray. 

Censure is sometimes, at this day, cast upon 
Captain Smith for having failed to marry Po- 
cahontas. History, however, has no who;' 
given any ground for such a reproach. The 
rescue of Smith took place in the winter oi 
1607, when he was twenty-eight § years ol 
age and she only twelve or thirteen. || Smith 
left Virginia early in 1609, and never return- 
ed. Pocahontas was then about fourteen 
years of age. But had she been older, it 
would have been impossible for him to mar- 
ry her, unless by kidnapping her, as was done 
by the unscrupulous Argall some years after- 
wards, — a measure which if it had been adop- 
ted in 1609, when the colony was feeble and 
torn by faction, would probably have excited 
the vengeance of Powhatan and overwhelm- 
ed the plantation in premature ruin. It was 
in 1612 that Argall captured Pocahontas on 
the banks of the Potomac. From the depar- 
ture of Smith, until this time, she never had 
been seen at Jamestown, but had lived on the 
Potomac incoimito.lf 



In the spring of 1613, it is stated that "long 
before this, Mr. John Rolfe" " had been in 
love with Pocahontas and she with him." — 
This attachment, therefore, must have been 
formed immediately after her capture, if it 
did not exist before. The marriage took 
place in April 1613. It is true that Poca- 
hontas had been told that Smith was dead ; 
nor did she know otherwise until she reached 
Plymouth. And in practising this deception, 
Rolfe must have been a principal party. But 
Smith was in no manner privy to it. Smith 
bore for her a friendship animated by the 
deepest emotions of gratitude ; and friendship, 
according to Spenser, a cotemporary poet, is 
a more exalted sentiment than love. Poca- 
hontas seems to have regarded Smith with a 
sort of filial affection, and she accordingly 
said to him, at Brentford, in that affecting 
interview : — " I tell you then, I will call you 
father, and you shall call me childe." It is 
true, indeed, that the deception practised on 
Pocahontas, as to Smith's death, would seem 
to argue an apprehension on the part of 
Rolfe and his friends, that she would not 
marry another if Smith were alive. And the 
circumstances of the interview would seem 
to confirm the existence of such an appre- 
hension. Yet, however that may have been, 
the integrity of Smith stands untarnished. 



* Stith, pp. 144-46. Stukely was vice-admiral of De- 
von. Afterwards, by his in achery to Sir Walter Raleigh, 
he covered himself with infamy and by corrupt practises 
reduced himself to beggary. 

t 1 have been informed by Mr. Richard Randolph of 
Williamsburg, that this Thomas Rolfe married a Miss Poy- 
i rs. 

t 1 1< lies buried at. Farming lale,in the county of Prince 
George. The inscription on his tombstone is as follows: 
" "' " lyeth interred in hope ol a joyful lesurrection the 
Ih,|] > "I Robert Boiling the son ol John & Mary Boiling of 
Alhallows, Barkin Parish Tower Street London. He was 
born the 2Cth of December in the year 1646 and came to 
i ia Octoberthe2d 1600 and departed this life the 17th 
day of July mi. i aged 62 years six months and twenty-one 
dayes." 

The portrait of .line Rolfe, grand-daughter of Pocahon- 
tas, is Mill preserved. 

■!) This appears from an inscription on his likeness, pre- 
fixed to his History of \ irginia. 

II Si nil, p. 55. 

<fi Stall, p. I 



CHAPTER XII. 
1617 — 1618. 

Argall arrives as Governor at Jamestown; Condition of 
Jamestown; Opechancanough ; Powhatan; New mode 
of curing Tobacco; Statistics of the Colony; Lord Del- 
aware sails tor Virginia, dies during the voyage; Ar- 
gall's tyranny ; Brewster's case . Argal] leaves \ irginia; 
Jlis character; Powhatan's death; His name, personal 
appearance, dominions, manner ol hit, character; Suc- 
cei di il by Opitch ipan. 

At length Argall, now appointed Governor 
and Admiral, accompanied by Captain Ralph 
liamer, set sail for Virginia and arrived at 
Jamestown [ May 1617.] Tomocomo returned 
at the same time. Argall was welcomed by 
Captain Yeardley and his company in mar- 
tial array, the right tile of which was led by 
an [ndian. At Jamestown were found but 
five or six habitable houses, the church (alien, 
ol i n i 1 "' bridge foundrous, 



1617-18.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



41 



the well spoiled, the store-house used for a 
church; the market-place, streets and other 
vacant ground planted with tobacco; the 
savages as frequent in the houses as the Eng- 
lish, who wore dispersed about planting to- 
bacco. Toinocomo was sent to Opechanca- 
nough, who came to Jamestown and received 
a present. Powhatan, having some time pre- 
vious resigned the cares of government to 
Opechancanough, went about from place to 
place lamenting the death of Pocahontas, 
but still continuing in friendship with the 
English. This year a Mr. Lambert intro- 
duced the method of curing tobacco on lines 
instead of in heaps as was the former prac- 
tice. * The number of settlers was now 
about four hundred, with one hundred and 
twenty-eight head of cattle, eighty-eight goats, 
with a great many swine 1 and plenn of corn. 
The corn contributed to the public store was 
about four hundred and fifty bushels, ami 
from the tributary Indians seven hundn I ; id 
fifty. Of the " companie's companie" there 
remained not more than fifty-four, including 
men, women and children. Drought and 
hail greatly damaged the crops of corn and 
tobacco. To re-inforce the Colony the com- 
pany sent out a vessel of two hundred and 
fifty tons, well stored, with two hundred and 
fifty people, under command of Lord Dela- 
ware. They sailed [April 1618;] duringthe 
e thirty died, and among them Lord 
Delaware, a generous friend of the (' 
Delaware Bay perhaps took its name from 
him. t Argall, now deputy governor, 
duced a. system of tyranny into the Colony, 
borrowed from the obsolete martial laws 
brought over by Dab-. Argall prohibited all 
trade and intercourse with the Indians; the 
teaching them the use of arms was made a 
crime punishable by death. Yet it ha 
contended by some thai the \i-^' of fire 
by the Indians hastened their extermination, 
because they thus became dependent on the 
whites for arms and ammunition ; when their 
arms came to be out of order they b« 
useless to them, for they wanted the skill to 
repair them, and lastly, lire-arms, in their 



*Stiih, 117. 

■f- " And I think I have somewhere seen that he died about 
the mouth of Delaware Bay, which thence took its name 
from him." Stith, 1 is. Belknap, v. 2, 1 1 



hands, when effective, were employed by bos- 
tile tribes in mutual destruction. * 

Under Argall's new Procrustean rule all 
goods were sob! at an advance of twenty-five 
per cent, and the price of tobacco was fixed 
at three shillings per pound, under a penalty 
of three years imprisonment. No man was 
suffered to fire a gun before a new supply 
of ammunition, except in self-defence, on 
pain of a year' slavery. Absence from 
church on Sundays or holydays was pun- 
ished by confinement for the night, and one 
week's slavery to the Colony; and on a sec- 
ond offence, the punishment was enhanced. 
Several of these regulations, however, seem 
to have been judicious, but the penalties were 
some excessively severe, some barbarous. 
The rigorous enforcement of these regula- 
tions rendered Argall odious to the Colony, 
and a report of his tyranny and extortions 
having reached England, Lord Delaware had 
been despatched with instructions to send 
him home to answer C s brought 

against him. However, bis lordship dying 
during the voyagi , . ! on the arrival of 

the vessel, came into possi ion of 1 
tors and ins tig now th 

sand was runnin ' ing to make 

hay while the sun yet shone, he multi 
his exactions and grew more tyrannical than 
ever. The case of Brewster was a rema 
hie ins A gentleman of con- 

had the mana< ■• 
ment of estate there. Ar- 

gall, without . ny aul horiti . ren oved tl i - 
vants from his lordship's land and employed 
them on his own. Brewster endeavored to 
make them return, and being flatly refused 
by one, threatened him with the consequences 
of his contumacy. Brewster was immedi- 
ately arrested by ' order, charged with 
.-edition and mutiny and condemned to death 
by a court-martial. The members of the 
court, however, and t ' shock- 
ed at such a conviction, interceded earnestly 
for his pardon. i nted it, 
on condition that Brewster should depart 
from \ vit h a u oath never to return 
and never to say or do an; . lispar- 
agemenl of the d tor. Brewster, 
however, on his return to England [1618] 

*"Thc while faith of history cannot show, 
. musket yel could beat ih 

Cited in Lo 



42 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XIII. 



discarding the obligation of an extorted oath. 
appealed to the company against the tyranny 
of the deputy governor, and the inhuman 
sentence was reversed. * But before a new 
governor arrived in Virginia, Argall embark- 
ed in a vessel laden with his effects. Being 
a relation to Sir Thomas Smith the treas- 
urer, and a partner in trade of the profligate 
Ear! of Warwick, he escaped with impunity. 
[1620.] He commanded a ship of war in 
an expedition against the Algerines, and 
[1623] was knighted by king James. The 
character of Argall is variously represented. 
He seems to have been an expert mariner oi 
talent, courage, and enterprise, but selfish, 
unscrupulous, arbitrary and cruel. 

Powhatan died [April 1618,] being up- 
wards of seventy years of age. He was so 
called perhaps from the place of that name, + 
one of his residences, or from the river Pow- 
hatan. But his proper name was Wahun- 
sonacock. The country subject to him was 
called Powhatan and his subjects Powhatans. 
He was tall, well-proportioned and athletic. 
[1607.] When about sixty years oi' age his 
hair was sprin] d with grey. — his beard 
very thin. He held by hereditary right Pow- 
hatan, Arrohattox, Appomattox, Pamaunkee, 
Youghtanund and Matapanient. The rest oi 
In- po • isions lie acquired by (inquest. 
In each of his hereditary dominions he had 
houses built like arbors, thirty or forty yards 
long. Whenever he was about to visit one 
of these, it was supplied with rovision for 
his entertainment. The English, upon their 
fust arrival, found him at a place of his own 
name. Afterwards, however, his favorite 
residence was Werowocomoco ; hut in his 
latter years, disrelishing the neighborhood ol 
the English, lie withdrew himself to Ora- 
pakes in the "desert," between the Chicka- 
hominy and the Pamunkey. It is not unlike- 
ly that he died and was buried there; for a 
n. '" then-", in a thicket of wood, he had a 
house where he kept his treasure oi' furs, cop- 
per, pearl and heads, " which he storeih vp 
again; I the I ivne oi' his death and buriall." J 

• I k, vol. 1, pp. 197-8, attributes the order for A rgall's 
recall , . -ewster's appeal to the company, and on the next 
page, si thai the outra ;e on Brewster was committed by 
Argall aj the order for his recall. See also Chalmers' 
Introdui ol. I, p. 11. John Rolfe made light of the affair. 
Smith, ■ '. :l, p. 37. 

t Stith, 53. 

t Smith, vol. 1, p. 143. 



At the time of the first settlement of the 
Colony, Powhatan was usually attended, es- 
pecially when asleep, by a body-guard of 
fifty .tall warriors. He afterwards augmented 
their number to about two hundred. He had 
as many wives as he pleased, and when tired 
of any one of them bestowed her on some 
favorite. [1608.] By treachery he surprised 
the Payanketanks, his own subjects, while 
asleep in their cabins, massacred twenty-four 
men, made prisoners their Werowance with 
the women and children, who were reduced 
to slavery. Captain Smith saw the scalps of 
the twenty-four slain, at Werowocomoco, 
suspended on a line between two trees. 
" Powhatan caused certaine malefactors to be 
bound hand and foot, then having of many 
fires gathered great store of burning coals, 
they rake these coales round in the forme of 
a cockpit," and the offenders were thrown 
in the midst, to be burnt to death. * His 
character was, however, not destitute of bet- 
ter qualities, and in him we see some touches 
of princely magnanimity curiously blended 
with low cunning, and the cruelty of an un- 
relenting tyrant with the tenderness of a 
doating father. 

He was succeeded by Opitchapan, his sec- 
ond brother, known afterwards by the name 
of [topatin or Oeatan. Upon his accession 
he again changed his name to Sasawpen as 
Opechancanough changed his to Mangopeo- 
men. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
1618. 

Death of Sir Walter Raleigh; His birth and parentage; 
Student at Oxford ; Enlists in a Volunteer Company to 
aid the queen ol Navarre ; His stay in France ; Returns 
in England; Resident ai the Middle Terrple ; Serves in 
the Netherlands and in Ireland; Returns to England; 
His Gallantry; I ndertakes the Colonization of Virgi- 
nia; Chosen member ol Parliament; Knighted; Enga 
i ' Mm ; I ,n ses lai nr at Court ; Re 

tires to lie. ami; Spenser; Sir Walter confined in the 
Tower; His flattery of the Queen; She grants him the 
Manor ol Sherborne; Raleigh's expeditions to Guiana; 
Joins an expedition against Cadiz; Wounded; Makes 
another voyage to Guiana. Restored to the Queen's fa- 
vor; (' ntributes to the defeat of the treason of Essex; 
Rales; made Governor of Jersey; His liberal senti- 

* Smith, vol. 1, pp. 144-145. 



1618.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



43 



merits; Elizabeth's deM.h ; Accession of J;unes 1st ; 
Raleigh confined in the Tower; Accused o h rea 

son; His trial ; Found guilty; Reprieved; Lill a pris- 
oner in the Tower ; Devotes himself to L rnture and 
Science; His companions; 1 1 is "History o the World;" 
Lady Raleigh's petition to James; Raleigh rel 
Embarks in Ins last expedition to Guiana ; Its failure; 
His son slain ; Sir Walter's return to England; His ar- 
rest; Condemnation; Execution; Character. 

In t his year also died the founder of Vir- 
ginia colonization, Sir Walter Raleigh. He 
was born at Hayes, a farm in the parish of 
Budley, Devonshire, [1552,] being the fourth 
son of Walter Raleigh, Esq., of Fardel, near 
Plymouth, and Catherine, daughter of Sir 
Philip Champerhon and widow of Otho Gil- 
bert, of Compton, Devonshire. After pass- 
ing some time at Oriel College, Oxford, about 
the year [1568,] where he distinguished him- 
self by his genius and attainments, at the age 
of seventeen he joined a volunteer company 
of one hundred gentlemen, under Henry 
Champernon, in an expedition to assist the 
Protestant queen of Navarre. He r< mail d 
in France five years, and under the protec- 
tion of the English embassy, witnessed the 
massacre of St. Bartholomew's day. On re- 
turning to England, he was for a while in 
the Middle Temple, but whether as a student, 
is uncertain. His leisure was given to poe- 
try. [1578.] He accompanied Sir John Nor- 
ris to the Netherlands. [1579.] He joined 
in the first and unsuccessful voyage of Sir 
Humphrey Gilbert. Now at the age of -27, 
it is said that of the twenty-four hours he al- 
lotted four to study and only five to sleep. 
This, however, is improbable, for so much 
activity of employment as always character- 
ized him, demanded a proportionate repose. 
[1580.] He served in Ireland as captain oi 
horse under lord Grey, and became familiar 
with the dangers and barbarities of civil war. 
[1581.] He became acquainted with the 
poet Spenser, then resident at Kilcolman. 
Disgusted with a painful service, Raleigh re- 
turned to England in this year. It was at 
this time that he exhibited a famous piece of 
gallantry to the queen. She, in a walk, coin- 
ing to a " plashy place" hesitated to proceed, 
when he " cast and spread his new plush 
cloak on the ground' 3 for her to tread on. 
By his wit and grace he rose rapidly in Eliza- 
beth's favor, and " she took him for a kind ■• I 
oracle." His munificent and persevering 



efforts in the colonization of Virginia, oughl 
to have moderated the sweeping charge of 

levity and fickleness broughl again t him by 
Hume. [1583.] Raleigh becami (tuber of 
Parliament for Devonshire, was k hted and 
made seneschal of Cornwall and trden of 
the Stanneries. Engaged in the c: edition 
to place Don Antonio on the throne I Por- 
tugal, Sir Walter, for his good conduct, re- 
ceived a gold chain from the queen. The 
rivalship of the Earl of Essex having driven 
him into temporary exile in Ir< land, ' there 
renewed his acquaintance with the author of 
" The Faery Queen." Spenser returned with 
him to England. Sir Walter was arre ted 
[1592] and confined in tin? Tower, on ac- 
of a criminal intrigue with one of the 
maids of honor. The young lady was im- 
prisoned at the same time. She was Eliza- 
beth, daughter of Sir Nicholas Throckmor- 
ton, and a celebrated beauty. Sir Walter 
afterwards married her. In a letter written 
from the Tower to Sir Robert Cecil, Raleigh 
indulged in the most extravagant flattery of 
the queen : "I that was wont to behold her, 
riding like Alexander, hunti ig ke Diana, 
walking like Venus, the gentl : wind blov ing 
her fair hair about her pure cheeks like a 
nymph, som< time sittin; in the shade like a 
sometime i like an an _e!, 

sometime playing like Orpheus." [1593.] 
Elizabeth granted him .he manor of S- ' i* • i- 
borne in Dorsetshire. About this period he 
distinguished himself, by his ability and elo- 
quence, in the House of Commons. [1595.] 
1! commanded an expedition to Guiana, in 
quest of El Dorado, and. another in the fol- 
lowing year. In an expedition againsl Ca- 
diz, he led the van in action, and received a 
sew re wound in the leg. Upon his return 
to England he embarked in his third expedi- 
tion to Guiana. [ 1507.) He was restored to 
his place of Captain of the Guard, and re- 
gained fully the queen's favor. Essex having 
eno-ao-ed in a treasonable conspiracj . Raleigh 
contributed to defeat his designs. But after 
the execution of his rival, Raleigh's good for- 
tune began to wane. However, ( lb'00,] he 
was made Governor of the I le of Jersey. 
[10*01.] In a speech in Parliament en an act 
lor sowing hem]), Sir W'al er said : ' For my 
part, 1 do no; like this constraining of men 
to manure or use their grounds at our wills, 
bul rather let every man use his ground to 



44 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XIV. 



that which it is most fit for, and therein use 
his discretion." Elizabeth died [1603] and 
Raleigh's happiness expired with her. 

James I. came to the throne prejudiced 
against Raleigh. He was also very unpopu- 
lar. In three months after the arrival of 
James in England, Sir Walter was arrested 
on a charge of high treason. Arraigned on 
charges frivolous and contradictory, tried un- 
der circumstances of cruelty, insult and op- 
pression, he was found guilty without evi- 
dence. By their brutal and malignant con- 
duct on this occasion, Sir Edward Coke, 
Lord Chief Justice Popham and Sir Robert 
Cecil, proved themselves fit tools for the ab- 
ject and heartless James. Raleigh, though 
reprieved, remained a prisoner in the Tower 
at the king's mercy. Lady Raleigh and her 
son were not excluded from the Tower. Ca- 
rew, the youngest, was born there. During 
his long confinement, Sir Walter devoted 
himself to literature ami science. He enjoy- 
ed the society of a few friends, among them 
Hariot and the Earl of Northumberland, who 
was also a State prisoner. Sir Walter was 
frequently visited by Prince Henry, the heir 
apparent, who was devoted in his attachment 
to him, and who said that " none but his fa- 
ther would keep such a bird in a cage." In 
the Tower, Raleigh composed his great 
work, "The History of the World." The 
first volume appeared [1614,] extending 
from the creation to the close of the Ma- 
cedonian war, and embracing a period of 
about 4,000 years. It was dedicated to Prince 
Henry. Raleigh intended to compose two 
other volumes, but owing to the untimely 
death of that Prince, and perhaps to the mag- 
nitude of the task, he proceeded no further 
than the first volume. During his confine- 
ment, king James lavished his estate of Sher- 
borne on the miserable minion, Car. And 
when Lady Raleigh, with her children around 
her, appeared at Court, and kneeling, in 
tears, besought James to restore her proper- 
ty, the only answer she received from this 
pusillanimous king was,"! maun have the 
land, 1 maun have it for Car." At length, 
owing to i\m death of seme of his enemies 
and the influence <>!' mon I igh was re- 

leased from the Tower for the purpose of 
making another o Guiana, The ex- 

pedition failed in its object ; Sir Walter lost 
his son in an action with the Spaniards, and 



on his return to England was arrested. 
James was now bent on effecting a match 
between his son and the Spanish Infanta. 
To gratify the Court of Spain and his own 
malice, he resolved to sacrifice Raleigh. He 
was condemned under the old conviction, 
although he had lately been commissioned 
commander of a fleet and Governor of Gui- 
ana. " He was condemned, (said his son, 
Carew,) for being a friend of the Spaniards, 
and lost his life for being their bitter enemy." 
He was executed [29th of October, 1618,] 
in the old palace yard, and died with Chris- 
tian heroism. He was distinguished as a 
navigator, a negotiator, a naval commander, 
a military ollicer, an author in verse and in 
prose, a wit, a courtier, a statesman, a phi- 
losopher. There is perhaps in English his- 
tory no other name associated with so lofty 
and versatile a genius, so much glorious action, 
and so much wise reflection. He was proud, 
fond of splendor, of a restless and fiery am- 
bition, sometimes unscrupulous. An ardent 
imagination, excited by the enthusiasm of 
the age, infused an extravagance into some 
of his relations, that gave occasion for dis- 
trust, and involved him in several unhappy 
projects. These, however, are but spots on 
the disc of his fame, and Virginia will ever 
pride herself on so illustrious a founder. * 



CHAPTER XIV. 
1619—1621. 

Sir Edwin Sandys Treasurer; His character; Captain 
Powell Deputj Governor; Sir George Yeardley Gov- 
ern. >i ; Firsl Assembly meets in Virginia; Affairs of 
the Colony ; English Puritans land at Plymouth in New ' 
England; Negroes introduced into Virginia; Supplies 
senl out from England; Wives for the Colonists; Eng- 
land claims a monopoly of the Virginia tobacco ; Chari- 
table Donations; Sir Francis Wyatt Governor; New 
frame of Government ; Instructions for the Governor and 
Council; George Sandys Treasurer in Virginia; No- 
tice of Ins Life and published Works; The productions 
of the ( lolony. 

[ 1619. ) Sir Thomas Smith, treasurer of the 

* Tytler's Life of Raleigh. Oldys' Life of Raleigh, p. 

71. Belknap, vol. 1, article Raleigh, pp. 289-370. "A 

Brief Relation of Sir Walter Raleigh's troubles." Har- 

leian, Mis. No. 100. There are also Lives of Raleigh, by 

aylcy, South',)- and .Mrs. Thorn] in, 



1619-21.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA . 



45 



company, resigned his place and was suc- 
ceeded by Sir Edwin Sandys. This on- 
lightened statesman and excellenl man, was 
born in Worcestershire [1561,] being the 
second son of the Archbishop of York. 
Educated at Oxford, under "the judicious 
Hooker," he obtained a prebend in the church 
of York. He afterwards travelled in foreign 
countries and published his observations, in a 
work entitled " Europae Speculum." Here- 
signed his prebend [lb'0'2.] was knighted by 
James, and employed in diplomatic trusts. 
His appointment as Treasurer gave great 
satisfaction to the Colony ; for although 
Hooker had been his teacher, free principles 
were now, under his auspices, in the ascen- 
dant. * 

When Argall, in April, stole away from 
Virginia, he left for his deputy, Captain Na- 
thaniel Powell. This gentleman had come 
over with Captain Smith [1607,] and had 
evinced courage and discretion. He was one 
of the writers from whose narrative Smith 
compiled his General History. Powell, how- 
ever, held his office only about ten days, when 
Sir George Yeardley, just knighted, arrived 
as Governor General, bringing with him new 
charters for the colony. Yeardley added to 
the Council Captain Francis West, Captain 
Nathaniel Powell, John Rolfe, William Wick- 
ham and Samuel Macock.t Rolfe, who had 
been Secretary, now lost his place, probably 
owing to his connivance at Argall' s maleprac- 
tices and was succeeded by John Pory4 In 
June of this year, [1619,] the new Governor 
General summoned the first Legislative As- 
sembly that ever met in Virginia. It was 
convened in July. Its privileges and powers 
were defined in his commission. It consist- 
ed of the Governor and Council and two 
Burgesses from each town, hundred and plan- 
tation. The number of Burgesses § in attend- 
ance at this first session was twenty-two. 
All the members of this miniature parliament 

* Blake's Biog. Die. Sir Edwin is sometimes called 
Sanctis, sometimes Sands. 

t Macock's, the seat mi James river, u as i ailed aftei this 
planter, who was the firs! proprii 

t Chalmers' Introduction, vol. 1, p. 1'.'. 

<J " dm ii Ik s not being then laid off, the representatives 

of the people were electi d by townships ; the I ughs ol 

Jamestown, Henrico, Bermuda Hundred ami others send- 
ing their members to the Assembly, from which circum- 
stance the lower house was first called the house ol Bur- 
gesses." — Heni es al large, vol. 1, p, 120 in note, 
citing Stith, [>. 160. 



sate together in one apartment, " where were 
debated all matters thoughl expedient for the 
Colony." Thus, after twelve years of suffer- 
ing, peril, discord and tyranny, intermingled 
however with much of romantic adventure, 
bold enterprise, virtuous fortitude and g< ne- 
rous devotion, were established a local leois- 
lature and a regular administration of right.* 
Th?' Virginia planters received as a favor. 
what they had been too feeble to exact as a 
right. They expressed their gratitude to the 
company, and begged them to reduce into a 
compend, with his majesty's approbation, 
such of the laws of England as were appli- 
cable to Virginia, " with suitable additions," 
because " it was not fit that, his subjects 
should be governed by any other rules than 
such as received their influence from him." 
The acts of this early Assembly were trans- 
mitted to England for the approbation of the 
treasurer and company, without which they 
were of no validity. No record ol' them re- 
mains, but it was said, "that they were very 
judiciously formed." f There was granted 
to the old planters a discharge from all CO] i- 
pulsive service to the colony, with a confir- 
mation of their estates, which were to be 
hoiden as by English subjects. Finding a 
scarcity of corn, Yeardley now promoted the 
cultivation of it. This year was remarkable 
for abundant crops of wheat and Indian com. 
But an extraordinary mortality carried off not 
less than three hundred of the people. 

Three thousand acres of land were allotted 
to the governor and twelve thousand to the 
company. "The Margaret" of Bristol ar- 
rived with twenty-four men, " and also many 
devout gifts." "The Trial" brought a cargo 
of com and cattle. The expenditure of the 
\ irginia Company at this period, on account 
of the Colony, was estimated at between 
four and five thousand pounds a year. 

A body of English Puritans, persecuted on 
account of their non-conformity, had j 1608] 
sought an asylum in Holland. [1617.] They 
conceived the design of removing to Amer- 
ica. [ L619.] They obtained from the London 
Company, by the influence of Sir Edwin 
Sandys, the treasurer, 'a large patent" au- 



i, p. 157. Chalmers' Annals, p. 44. Belknap, v. 

'-'■ I' •' 

in note. Th< comm I I 

ind full ul la- 



46 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XIV. 



thorizing them to settle in Virginia. [De- 
cember 1619.] "The Pilgrims" landed at Ply- 
mouth and laid the. foundation of the New 
England States. [August 1619.] A Dutch 
man-of-war visited Jamestown and sold the 
settlers twenty negroes, the first ever intro- 
duced into Virginia. ' 

Japazaws sent for two vessels to trade on 
the Potomac, as the corn was abundant. A 
barque of five tons came in from England 
during the winter. The diminutive size of ves- 
sels then employed in navigating the ocean 
is an extraordinary feature of that age. Eleven 
vessels were sent out by this company in this 
year, bringing over twelve hundred and six- 
teen settlers, who were disposed of in the 
following way ; eighty tenants for the gov- 
ernor's land, one hundred and thirty for the 
company's land, one hundred for the college, 
fifty for the glebe, ninety young women for 
wives, fifty servants, fifty whose labors were 
to support thirty Indian children ; the rest 
were distributed among private plantations. 
The wives were sold to the Colonists for one 
hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco. The 
price afterwards became higher. The bishops, 
by the king's orders, collected nearly £1,500 
to build a college in Virginia for the educa- 
tion of Indian children. The population of 
the Colony in 1620 was estimated at four 
thousand, t One hundred " disorderly per- 
sons" or convicts, sent over in the previous 
year by the king's order, wrrc employed as 
servants. For a brief interval the Virginia 
Company had enjoyed freedom of trade with 
the Low Countries, where they sold their to- 
bacco. But [1G21] this was prohibited by 
an order in council. From this lime Eno-- 
la ! claimed a monopoly of the trade of her 
plantations, and this principle was gradually 
ado] ted by all the European powers, as they 
acquired transatlantic settlements. J 

Two persons unknown presented some 
plate and ornaments for the communion-ta- 
bles at the College and at "Mrs. Mary Rob- 



* " Smith, vol. 2, p. 39, where Rolfe gives the date 1619. 
Stith, p. 171. Beverley, B. 1, p. 37. Chalmers' Annals, 
p. 49. Burk, vol. 1. p. 211. and Hening, vol. 1, p. 1 Ki, all, 
a: Bancroft, vol. 1, p. 177 remarks, rely on Beverley. It 
may be added thai they all were misled by him in making 
the dale 1620." 

t Chalmers' Introduc, vol. 1, p, 1 1. 

Jib. 15. 



inson's Church," towards the foundation of 
which she had contributed two hundred 
pounds. Another person incognito gave 
five hundred and fifty pounds for the educa- 
tion of Indian children in Christianity. This 
modest and munificent philanthropist subscri- 
bed himself " Dust and Ashes." He was 
afterwards discovered to be Mr. Gabriel Bar- 
ber, a member of the company.* 

Sir George Yeardley's term of office ex- 
piring, the company's council appointed Sir 
Francis Wyatt governor, a young gentleman 
of Ireland, whose education, family, fortune 
and integrity recommended him for the place. 
He arrived in October 1621, with a fleet of 
nine sail, and brought over a new frame of 
government for the Colony, constituted by 
the company and dated July 24th, 1621 — es- 
tablishing a council of state and a general 
assembly — vesting the governor with a nega- 
tive upon the acts of the assembly — this body 
to be convoked by him, in general, once a 
year, and to consist of the council of state 
and of two burgesses from every town, hun- 
dred or plantation — the trial by jury secur- 
ed — no act of the assembly to be valid unless 
ratified by the company in England, and on 
the other hand, no order of the company to 
be obligatory upon the Colony without the 
consent of the assembly. A commission of 
the same date recognized Sir Francis as the 
first governor under the new form of govern- 
ment. And this famous ordinance became 
the model of every subsequent provincial 
form of government in the Anglo-American 
colonies, t 

Wyatt received also a body of instructions 
intended for the permanent guidance of the 
governor and council. He was to provide 
for the service of God, in conformity with 
•• the Church of England, as near as may 
be;" — to be obedient to the king and to ad- 
minister justice according to the laws of Eng- 
land : ,i not to in in re the natives, and to forget 
old quarrels now buried :" " to be industrious 
and suppress drunkenness, gaining and ex- 
cess in cloaths ; not to permit any but the 
council and heads of hundreds to wear gold 
in their cloaths or to wear silk till the} make 



* Stith, 216. 

t Chalmers' I ntroduc, vol. 1. p. 13-16. Belknap, vol. ',1, 
p. 171. The Ordinance ami Commission may be seen 
in 1 lening, vol. 1, p. 110-13. 



1622.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



47 



it themselves;" not to offend any foreign 
prince; to punish pirates; to build forts; to 
endeavor "to convert the heathens," and 
" each town to teach some" of the Indian 
"children tit for the college intended to be 
built :" to cultivate corn, wine and silk ; to 
search for minerals, dyes, gums and medi- 
cinal drugs, and to "draw off the people 
from the excessive planting of tobacco ;" to 
take a census of the Colony ; " to put pren- 
tices to trades and not let them forsake their 
trades for planting tobacco or any such use- 
less commodity;" "to build water-mills:" 
"to make salt, pitch, tar, soap, ashes," 
&c ; "to make oyl of walnuts and employ 
apothecaries in distilling lees of beer;" " to 
make small quantity of tobacco and that very 
good." * 

Wyatt, entering upon his government, No- 
vember 18, immediately dispatched " master 
Thorpe" to renew the treaties of peace and 
friendship with Opechancanough. He was 
found apparently well affected and ready to 
confirm the pledges of harmony. A vessel 
from Ireland brought in eighty settlers, who 
planted themselves at Newport's News. The 
company sent out during this year twenty- 
one vessels, navigated with upwards of four 
hundred sailors, and bringing thirteen hun- 
dred men, women and children. The aggre- 
gate number of immigrants in 1621 and lo'"2'2 
was three thousand live hundred, t 

With Sir Francis Wyatt, came over, as 
Treasurer in Virginia, George Sandys, brother 
of Sir Edwin Sandys, treasurer of the com- 
pany in England. George Sandys was born 
[1577.] After passing some time at Oxford, 
[1610] he travelled over Europe to Turkey 
and visited Palestine and Egypt. He pub- 
lished his travels, at Oxford [ 1615,] and they 
were received with great favor. In Virginia 
he devoted his leisure to a translation of 
Ovid's Metamorphose,-, which was published 
[1626] and dedicated to King Charles I. I!c 
published several other works and enjoyed 
the favor of the literary men of his day. 
Having lived chiefly in retirement, he died 
[1643] at the house of Sir Francis Wyatt, in 
Bexley, Kent. 

[1615.] Twelve different commodities had 
been shipped from Virginia ; tobacco and 
sassafras were now the only exports. The 

* Hening, vol. L, p. 114-17. Belknap, vol. 2, p. 171-5. 
t Chalmers' Annals, 57. 



company in England imported during the 
year 1(jl9 twenty thousand pounds of tobac- 
co, the entire crop of the preceding year. 
James I. endeavored to draw a " prerogative" 
revenue from what he justly termed "a per- 
nicious weed," and against which he had 
published his " counterblast," but was cl 
ed by a resolution of the Commons. At the 
end of seventy years there were annually 
imported into England more than fifteen mil- 
lions of pounds of tobacco, from which was 
derived a revenue of upwards of £100,000. t 
[November and December 1621.1 An as- 
sembly was held at James City. Acts were 
passed to encourage the planting of mul- 
berry trees and the culture of silk. This 
culture so early commenced in Virginia and 
of late years so warmly urged, appears still 
unsuccessful. Are we to infer that the cli- 
mate of Virginia is incompatible with that 
sort of production or that, the population is 
too thin ? 



CHAPTER XV. 

1622. 

Tin' Massacre; Its Origin; Nemattanow; Opechanca- 
nough ; Si r.nrity of the Colonists ; Hypocrisy of the In- 
dians; Particulars of the Massacre; Thorpe, Powell, 
Causie, Baldwin, Harrison, Hamer; Consequences of 
the Massacre ; Brave defence of some of the Colonists ; 
Supplies sent from England in relief of the Colonj ; 
Capt. Smilh ; Raleigh Crashaw and Opechancanough j 
Captain Madison massacres a party o! Indians; Sir 
George Yeardley invades the Nansemonds and the Pa- 
munkies ; They are driven luck; Reflections on theex- 
termination of the In h ins. 

On the 22nd of March, 1(S - 2 - 2, a memora- 
ble massacre occurred in the Colony. It 
was supposed to have originated in the fol- 
lowing circumstances. There was a famous 
chief among the Indians named Nematta- 
now, or "Jack of the Feather," so styled 
from his fashion of decking his hair. He 
was reckoned by his own people invulnera- 
ble to the arms of the English. Nematta- 
now, visiting one of the settlers named Mor- 

. ners' Introduc, vol. 1, p. 13. April 17, 1621, the 
House of Commons debated whether it was expedient to 
prohibit the importation of tobacco entirely. The) di ter- 
mined to exclude all save from Virginia and the 
Isles. Ii was estimated that the consumption of England 
amounted to 1000 lbs. per diem. Chalmers' Annals. 



48 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XV. 



gan, persuaded him to go to Pamunkey to 
trade and murdered him by tlie way. Ne- 
mattanow in two or three days returned to 
Morgan's house and finding there two young 
men, Morgan's servants, who enquired for 
their master, answered them that he was 
dead. The young men seeing their mas- 
ter's cap on the Indian's head, suspected 
the murder and undertook to conduct him 
to Master Thorpe, who then lived at Berke- 
ley, on the James river. * Nemattanow, 
however, so exasperated them on the way, 
that the young men shot him, and he falling, 
they put him into a boat, to convey him to 
the governor, distant seven or eight miles. 
The wounded chief in a short while died. 
Feeling the approaches of death, he begged 
the young men not to disclose that he was 
killed with a bullet. So strong is the aspi- 
ration for posthumous fame even in the 
breast of an untutored savage ! Opechan- 
canough, the ferocious chief of the Pamun- 
kies, was agitated with mingled emotions of 
grief and indignation at the loss of his fa- 
vorite Nemattanow, and at first uttered threats 
of revenge. 

The retorted menaces of the English 
made him smother his resentment and dis- 
semble his dark designs under the cloak 
of friendship. And thus, upon Sir Fran- 
cis Wyatt's arrival, all suspicion of Indian 
treachery had died away; the Colonists 
in fancied security were in genera! destitute 
of arms; the plantations lay dispersed as ca- 
price or a rich vein of laud allured ; their 
houses everywhere open to the Indians, who 
fed at their tables and lodged under their 
roofs. About the middle of March, a mes- 
senger being sent upon some occasion to 
Opechancanough, he entertained him kindly 
and protested that he held the peace so firm, 
that "the sky should fall before lie broke it." 
On the 20th of the month the Indians gui- 
ded some of the English safely through the 
forest, and to lull all suspicion, they sent 
one Brown, who was sojourning among them 
10 learn their language, back home to his 
master. They went so far as even to bor- 
row boats of the whites to cross the river 
when about holding a council on the medi- 
tated massacre, it tool: place on Friday, 

» Stith, p. 200. This old plantation is a well-known 
seal o! the Harrisons. Ii was originally called Brickie)', 
us appears from Smith, vol. 2, p. T.~>. 



the 22nd of March, 1622. On the evening 
before, and on that morning, the savages as 
usual came unarmed into the houses of the 
planters, with fruits, fish, turkies and venison 
to sell. In some places they actually sate 
down to breakfast with the English. At 
about the hour of noon the savages rising 
suddenly and everywhere at the same time, 
butchered the colonists with their own 
implements, sparing neither age, sex nor 
condition. Three hundred and forty-seven 
men, women and children fell in a few hours. 
The infuriated savages wreaked their ven- 
geance even on the dead, dragging and 
mangling the lifeless bodies, smearing their 
hands in blood and bearing off the torn and 
yet palpitating limbs as trophies of a brutal 
triumph. 

Anions; the victims was master George 
Thorpe, a kinsman of Sir Thomas Dale, 
deputy to the College lands and one of the 
principal men of the colony. * This pious 
gentleman had labored much for the conver- 
sion of the Indians, and had exhibited to- 
wards them nothing but kindness. As an 
instance of this, — they having at one time 
expressed their fears of the English mastiff 
dogs, he had caused some of them to be put 
to death before them, to the great displea- 
sure of their owners. Opechancanough in- 
habiting a paltry cabin, master Thorpe 
had built him a handsome house after the 
English manner, t But these miscreants, 
equally deal' to the voice of humanity and 
insensible to the emotions of gratitude, mur- 
dered their benefactor with every circum- 
stance of barbarity. He had been warned 
of his danger by a servant, but making no 
effort to escape, fell a victim to his mispla- 
ced confidence. With him ten others were 
massacred at Berkley. 

Another of the slain was Captain Nathan- 
iel Powell, one of the first settlers, a brave 
soldier and who had for a brief interval filled 
the place of Governor of the Colony. His 
family fell with him. Another of Captain 
Smith's old soldiers, Nathaniel Causie, when 
severely wounded and surrounded by the In- 
dians, slew one of them with an axe, and put 
the rest to flight. At Warrasqueake, Mr. 



* !!<• had been of the King's bedchamber, Stith, p. 211. 
t The chief was so charmed with it, especially with the 

lock and key, that he locked and unlocked the door an hun- 
dred limes a day. 



1622.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



49 



Baldwin, by repeatedly firing his gun, saved 
himself and family and divers others. The 
savages at the same time made an attempt 
upon the house of a planter, named Harri- 
son (near Baldwin's) whore wore Thomas 
Hamer, with six men and eighteen or nine- 
teen women and children. The Indians tried 
to inveigle Hamer out of the house, by pre- 
tending that Opechancanough was hunting 
in the neighboring woods and desired to have 
his company. But he not coming out, they 
set fire to a tobacco-house. The men ran 
towards the fire and were pursued by the In- 
dians, who pierced them with arrows and 
beat out their brains. Hamer having finish- 
ed a letter that lie was writii 
ing no treachery, went out to see what was 
the matter, when being wounded in the back 
with an arrow, lie returned to the hou: 
barricade;! it. Meanwhile Harris')::'-- boy 
finding hi.- master's gun loaded, fired it at 
random and the Indians Sled. Baldvt 
continuing to discharge his gun, Hamer, with 
twenty-two others, withdrew to his house. 
leaving their own in flames. Hamer next 
retin ■! to a new house thai he w; building 
ami there defending himself with spades, 
axes and brickbats, escaped the fury of the 
savages. The master of a vess< I 
the James river, sent a file of musqueteers 
ashore, who recaptured from the enemy the 
Merchant's Store-house. In the neighbor- 
of Martin's Hundred, seventy-three 
persons were butchered, yet a small family 
there escaped and heard nothing of the mas- 
sacre for two days. 

Thus fell in so short a space of time onc- 
twelfth part of the colonists, includin 
members of the council. The destruction 
might have been universal hut for the disclo- 
sure of a converted Indian, named Chanco, 
who, during the night before the ma 
revealed the plot to one Richard Pace, with 
whom he lived. Pace upon rec< 
intelligence, alter fortifying his own hou e, 
repaired before day to Jamestown a;; 
the alarm to Sir Francis Wyatt, the Gover- 
nor. His vigilance saved a large pari of the 
Colony. ' 

Famine, with its horrors, now threatened 

* Pui 90. Smitl 

A list of the si found on page 75. Eleven \\< re 

killed at Berkley, two at Westover, fivi 
Flower-de-Hundred, twenty-one of Sir Ceoi \ 
people at Weyanoke, & c 



to follow in the train of massacre. * The con- 
he sun ivors so unmanned them, 
that twenty or thirty days elapsed before any 
plan of defence was concerted. Many were 
urgent to abandon the James river and take 
refuge on the Eastern Shore, where some 
newly settled plantations had escaped the 
ravages of this disaster.! At length it was 
determined to abandon the weaker planta- 
tions and to concentrate their numbers in 
live or six well fortified places, Shirley Hun- 
dred, Flower-de-Hundred, Jamestown with 
Paspahey and the plantations opposite to 
Kiquotan and Southampton Hundred. A 
large part of the cattle and effects of the 
planters thus fell a prey to the enemy. Never- 
theless, a planter, "Masti rGookins,"at New- 
port's News, refus< d to surrender his planta- 
tion, and held out there with singular spirit. 
Samuel Jordan, too, with the aid of a few 
refugees, maintained his ground at Beggars' 
Bush; t as also did Mr. Edward Hill at Eli- 
zabeth City. "Mistrisse Proctor, a proper, 
ciuill, modest gentlewoman.'' defended her- 
self and family for a month after the a 
ere, until at last forced to retire by the Eng- 
ifficers, who threatened if she refused, 
to burn her house down, v hich was done by 
the Indians shortly after her withdrawal. 
:i Newce of Eliza y, and his 

wife, distinguished themselves by their libe- 
rality to the sufferers. Several families es- 
caped to the country afterwards known as 
North Carolina, mul settled there. § 

When the news of the catastrophe r< 
Englan ? -ranted the companysome 

unserviceable arms out of the tower, and 
lent them twenty barrels of powder: Lord 
St. John of Basing', gave sixty coats of Mail ; 
the privy council sent out supplies, and the 
city of London despatched one hundred set- 
tlers. i| Captain John Smith undertook, if 
the company would >rn<\ him to Virginia with 
a ..mail force, to reduce the savages to sub- 
jection and proteel the colony from future 
assaults. Hi> project, however, failed on ac- 
count of the ons of the company and 

* ( !h: Imi :■-' I nt roduction, vol. 1 . 
t Sue., p. . 

| \ ■■■ ■ • nrds c Hi .1 "Jordan'.' known as the 

seal of Richard Bland, a "'• 

' 
th, vol. 2, p 79. Chalrrn i -' ! • vo1 ' '• 

p. 10. Belknap, vol.2, p. L85 I "™sed to send 

out lour hundri I soldiers, ' •"■ "'• 



50 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XV. 



the niggardly terms which were proposed by 
the few members found to act. 

It is worthy of remark that the event jus- 
tified the policy of Argall in prohibiting in- 
tercourse with the natives. Had that measure 
been enforced, the massacre would probably 
have been prevented. But the violence and 
corruption of such rulers as Argall, serve to 
disgrace and defeat the best measures ; while 
the virtues of the good are sometimes per- 
verted to canonize the most pernicious. 

During these calamitous events that had 
befallen the colony, Captain Raleigh Crashaw 
was engaged in a trading cruise up the Poto- 
mac. While there, Opechancanough sent 
two baskets of beads to the chief, or king, of 
the Potomacs to bribe him to slay Crashaw 
and his party, sending him at the same time 
tidings of the massacre and assurance that, 
"before the endoftwo Moones," there would 
not be an Englishman left in all the country. 
Japazaws, however, communicated the mes- 
sage to Crashaw, and he, thereupon, sent 
Opechancanough word, "that he would na- 
kedly fight him, or any of his, with their 
owne swords." The challenge was declined. 
Not long alter, Captain Madison, who oc- 
cupied a fort on the Potomac, suspecting 
treachery on the part of tie' tribe there, rash- 
ly killed thirty or forty men, women and chil- 
dren, and carried off (he Werowance, his son 
and two of his people prisoners to James- 
town. The captives were, however, in a short 
time ransomed. 

When the corn was ripe, Sir George Yeard- 
ley, with three hundred men, invaded the 
country of the Nansemonds. They settino- 
fire to their cabins and destroying whatever 
they could not carry away, lied. The Eng- 
lish seized their com and completed the work 
of devastation. Sailing next to Opechanca- 
nough's seat, at the head of York river, 
Yeardley inflicted the same chastisement on 
the Pamunkies. * Tims the red men were 
driven back like hunted wolves from their 
ancient haunts. While their fate cannot fail 
to excite compassion, it may lie reasonably 
concluded that the perpetual possession of 
this country by a feu savage tribes, would 

* " Since the newes of the Massai-re in Virginia 
the Indians continue then wonted friendship, yet are wee 

[of New England] more waryol them then he I for their 

hands have beene embrued in much English hloud onely 
by ion much confidence hut not by force." Purchas, vol. 
4, 1840 il. 



have been incompatible with the designs of 
Providence, in promoting the welfare of man- 
kind. A productive soil could make little 
return to a people almost destitute of the art 
and the implements of agriculture and habit- 
ually indolent. Navigable rivers, the natural 
channels of commerce, would have failed in 
their purpose, had they borne no freight but 
that of the rude canoe. Forests would have 
slept in gloomy inutility, where the axe was 
unknown, and the mineral and metallic trea- 
sures of the earth would have remained for- 
ever entombed. In Virginia, where the abo- 
riginal population was only one to the square 
mile, they could not be held occupants of the 
soil. Their title to the narrow portions which 
they actually occupied, was indisputable. It 
was, however, found impossible to occupy 
t}\c open country to which the savages had 
no just claim, without also exterminating 
them from those spots, which rightfully be- 
longed to them. This inevitable necessity 
actuated the pious puritans of Plymouth, as 
well as the less scrupulous settlers of James- 
town. The unrelenting hostility of the sava- 
ges, their perfidy, insidiousness and implaca- 
bility made this sanguinary measure necessary. 
In Virginia the first settlers, a small company, 
in an unknown wilderness, were repeatedly 
assaulted by the red men. Resistance and 
retaliation were demanded by the natural law 
of seil-nefence. Nor were these settlers vol- 
untary immigrants ; the bulk of them had 
been sent over, without regard to their con- 
sent, by the king or the Virginia company. 
Nor did the king or the company authorize 
any injustice or cruelty to be exercised to- 
wards the natives. On the contrary, the col- 
onists, however unfit, were enjoined to intro- 
duce Christianity among them and to propi- 
tiate their good will by a humane and lenient 
treatment. Thus Smith and his comrades, 
so far from being encouraged to maltreat the 
Indians, were often hampered in the means 
of a necessary self-defence, by a tear of of- 
fending an arbitrary government at home. 
It is, as has been remarked by Mr. Jefferson,* 
by no means true, thai all the lands were ac- 
quired from the natives by the sword, far the 
greater portion having been purchased by 
treaty. If it be objected that the considera- 
tion was inadequate ; the reply is, that a small 
consideration was sufficient to compensate 

* In his Notes on Virginia. See also Purchas 5, p. 83G. 



1623-25.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



51 



for a title, which for the most part had little 
if any validity. And besides, a larger com- 
pensation would oftentimes have been thrown 
away upon men alike destitute of knowledge 
and of industry. Groping in the dim twi- 
light of nature and slaves of a gross idola- 
try, their lives were circumscribed within a 
narrow circle of animal instincts and the ne- 
cessities of a precarious subsistence. Cun- 
ning, bloody and vindictive, engaged in fre- 
quent wars, they knew little of that Arcadian 
innocence and those scenes of Elysian feli- 
city, of which youthful poets so fondly dream. 
If an occasional exception occurs, it is but a 
solitary gleam of light shooting across the 
surrounding gloom. Still we cannot be in- 
sensible to the numerous injuries they have 
suffered, and cannot but regret that their race 
could never be blended with our own. The 
Indian is gone ; his cry no longer echoes in 
the woods, nor is the dip of his paddle heard 
on the water. The wave of extermination 
urges him onward to the setting sun, and we 
behold their tribes fading one by one forever 
from the map of existence. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

1623—1025. 

King James takes measures to annul the Charter of the 
Virginia Company ; Commissioners appointed to enquire 
into the affairs of the Colony; Commissioners appointed 
to proceed to Virginia; Assembly petitions (he King; 
Disputes between the Commissioners and the Assembly ; 
Treachery of Sharpless and his punishment ; The Charter 
of the Virginia Company dissolved ; Causes of this pro- 
ceeding; Character of the Company ; The Earl ol Si mi! Ii- 
arnpton. 

The court of James I., jealous of the grow- 
ing power of the Virginia Company and of 
its too republican spirit, seized upon the 
occasion of the massacre, to attribute all the 
calamities of the Colony to its mismanage- 
ment and neglect, and thus to frame a pretext 
for dissolving the charter. [April 1623.] A 
commission was issued authorizing Sir Wil- 
liam Jones, a justice of the common pleas, 
Sir Nicholas Fortescue, Sir Francis Goston, 
Sir Richard Sutton, Sir William Pitt, Sir 
Henry Bourchier and Sir Henry Spilman ' to 
enquire into the affairs ol' the Colony. B) 

* Stith says Spilman, Burk SpiUer. See Belknap, vol. 
2, p. 18C, in note. 



an order of the privy council the records of 
the company were seized, the deputy treas- 
urer* imprisoned, and on the arrival of a 
vessel from Virginia, all the papers on board 
inspected. In October the King declared 
his intention to grant a new charter mod- 
elled after that of 1606. This astounding 
order was read three times at a meeting of 
the company, before they could credit their 
own ears. They then, by an overwhelming 
vole, refused to relinquish their charter and 
expressed a determination to defend it. The 
King, in order to procure additional evidence 
against the company, appointed five commis- 
sioners to make inquiries in Virginia. Of 
these John Harvey and John Pory arrived in 
Virginia early in 1621, t Samuel Matthews 
and Abraham Percy were planters resident in 
the Colony and the latter a member of the 
house of burgesses ; John Jefferson, another 
commissioner, did not come over to Virginia, 
nor did he take any part in the matter, " being 
a hearty friend to the company." At first the 
planters deeming it a dispute between the 

* Nicholas Ferrer, (in the old books Farrar,) was born in 
London, L1592,] educated at Cambridge, where he displayed 
extraordinary talents, acquirements and piety. Upon quit- 
ting the University, he made the lour of Europe, winning 
i he esteem of the learned, " passing through many adven- 
tures and perils with a heroism of too elevated a kind to be 
called romantic, the heroism of piety, and maintaining every- 
where an immaculate character." Upon his return he was 
appointed "King's counsel for the Virginia plantation." 
[1G22.] He was chosen deputy treasurer of the Virginia 
Company, andso remained till its dissolution. [1624.] In the 
house of commons, he distinguished himself by his opposi- 
tion to the political con option of that day, and then ".nutted 
public life at little more than the age of thirty, in obedience 
to ,i religious fancy lie hud long entertained, and formed of 
his family and relations a sort of little half popish convent, 
in which he passed the remainder of his life. Belknap, 
vol. 2, p. 187, in note. Foster's Miscellanies, :iOS-9. 

The following notice of Ferrar's establishment is ex- 
tracted from ( \u lyle's "Letters and Speeches of Oliver 
Cromwell," vol. 1, pp. 69-70. " Crossing Huntingdonshire 
in his way Northward, his majesty had visited the Estab- 
lishment of Nicholas Ferrar.al Little Gidding.onthe Wes- 
tern bordei of that county. A surprising Establishment 
now in full flower, wherem above fourscore persons, in- 
cluding domeslicks with Ferrar and his Brother.and aged 
Mother at the head <>l them, had devoted themselves to a 
kind of Protestant Monachism and were getting much 
talked of in those times. They followed celibacy and 
merely religious duties ; employed themselves in ' binding 
of Prayerbooks,' embroidering oi hassocks, in almsgiving 
also and what charitable work was possible in that desert 

region ; above all, they kept up night and da\ a continual 
repetitii i the English Liturgy; beinn divided into re- 
lays and watches, watch relieving another, as on ship- 
board and never allowing at any hour the sacred ftre to go 
out." 

t Stith, 297. Belknap, p. 2, ISO, in note. 



52 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XVI. 



crown and the company, in which they were 
not essentially interested, paid but little at- 
tention to it. But two petitions defamatory 
of the Colony and laudatory of Sir Thomas 
Smith's arbitrary rule, having come to the 
knowledge of the assembly, [February 1624,] 
that body prepared spirited replies and draft- 
ed a petition to the King, which, with a let- 
ter to the privy council and other papers, 
were entrusted to Mr. John Pountis, a mem- 
ber of the council. * He, however, died 
during- the voyage to England. The Idler to 
the privy council prayed, " that the governors 
may not have absolute power and that they 
might still retain the liberty of popular assem- 
blies, than which nothing could more con- 
duce to the public satisfaction and public 
utility." 

The commissioners refused to exhibit their 
commission and instructions to the assembly, 
and the assembly refused them access to its 
records. Pory, one of the commissioners 
who had lost his place of Secretary to the 
company by betraying its secrets to the Earl 
of Warwick, now suborned Edward Sharp- 
less, clerk of the Virginia council, to expose 
to him copies of the journal of that body and of 
the house of Burgesses. Sharpless being de- 
tected was sentenced to the pillory with the 
loss of his ears, f The commissioners made 
a report against the corporation. 

[1624.] James I. dissolved the Virginia 
Company by a writ of Quo Warranto. \ w hich 
was determined only upon a technicality in 
the pleadings. The company bad been ob- 
noxious to the ill will of the King on several 
grounds. The corporation had become a thea- 
tre for rearing leaders of the opposition, 
many of its members being also members ot 
parliament. The company had chosen a 
treasurer in disregard of lb" King's nomina- 
tion, and in electing Carew Raleigh a mem- 
ber they had made allusions to bis father Sir 
Walter which were; probably unpalatable to 
the author of bis death. Besides, the King was 
greedy of power, which he wanted (be sense 
and the virtue to make a good use of and 
doubtless hoped to find in Virginia a new field 



* Hening, 1, I 20 and 12S. 

| Stith, 315. < >uly a piece o! one ear was i:ul off. 

{ The commissioners were appointed October 24, L623, 
ami the writ of Quo Warranto issui d November lOthol the 
same year, "when the commissioners were hardly out of 
sight of England." Belknap, vol I, p 190-1, in 



for extortions. Fortunately for history the 
company made a copy of its records, which 
afterwards fell into the hands of a Virginian.* 
[1625.] Charles I. succeeding to the crown 
and principles of his father, took the govern- 
ment of Virginia into his own hands. The 
company thus extinguished had expended 
one hundred and fifty thousand pounds in es- 
tablishing the Colony and transported nine 
thousand settlers without the aid of govern- 
ment. The number of stockholders, or ad- 
venturers, as they were styled, was about one 
thousand, and the annual value of exports 
from Virginia was, at the period of the dis- 
solution of the charter, only twenty thousand 
pounds. The company embraced much of 
th-3 rank, wealth and talent of the kingdom, 
near fifty noblemen, several hundred knights 
and many gentlemen, merchants and citi- 
zens. Among the leaders in its courts were 
Lord Cavendish, afterwards Earl of Devon- 
shire, Sir Edwin Sandys and Sir Edward 
Sackville, afterwards the celebrated Earl of 
Dorset, and above all the Earl of Southamp- 
ton, the patron of Shakspeare.J Although 
the company was so enlightened and its con- 
duct enlarged, liberal and disinterested, yet 
so cumbrous a machine was unfit for the 
planting of a Colony, and their management, 
it must, be confessed, was often wretched. 
The judicious Captain Smith seems to have 
approved of the dissolution of the corpora- 
tion. He and his companions had been rude- 
ly displaced by it. Yet as the act provided 
no compensation for the enormous expendi- 
ture incurred, it can be looked upon as little 
better than confiscation effected by chicane 



* Col. Byrd. 

t Henry Wriothesley, third Earl of Southampton, [1C01,] 
was connected with the Earl of Essex in his conspiracy to 
seize the person of Elizabeth. Essex lost his life. South- 
ampton was convicted, attainted and impi isoncd during the 
Queen's life. 1 * t j the accession of .lames I. he was libe- 
rated and restored, [1603.] lie was afterwards made cap- 
tain of tin' Isle of Wight ami governoi ol Carisbroke Cas- 
tle and [1618] a member of the priv} council. [1620.] He 
was chosen Treasurer ol the Virginia Company, contrary 
lo the avowed wishes of the king. The Earl, however, 
held the office nil the charter was dissolved and m its meet- 
ings, as well as in parliament, opposed the measures of a 
feeble and corrupt court. He was grandson of Wriothes- 
ley, the famous chanc< lloi ol E Iward VI., father to the ex 
eellent and noble Treasurer Southampton, Grandfather to 
Rachel Lady Russel, and the friend and patron of Shaks- 

pcare. In his later years he eo landed an English regiment 

in the Dutch service and died in the Netherlands, [1624.] 
Belknap, vol. 2, p. 171, in note. The county of Southamp- 
ton, Va. probably look its name from this Earl. 



1625-30.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



53 



and tyranny. Nevertheless the result was 
undoubtedly favorable to the Colony. * 



CHAPTER XVII. 
1625—1630. 

ly of 1624; Charles I. Commissions Sir Thomas 
Wyati G iven i r; Assemblies rtol allowed ; Royal Gov- 
ernment virtually established in Virginia; Other Colo- 
nies on the Atlantic Coast ; Wyatt returns to E 
Succeeded by Yeardley ; His Proclamations ; His death; 
Succeeded by Francis West; Letter of Charles I. ; De- 
sires an Assembly to be culled ; Reply of the Assembly ; 
John Pott Governor; Condition of the Colony; Statis- 
tics; Diet; Manner of living ; Pott superseded by Har- 
vey ; Pott convicted of stealing ; Harvey's unpopularity. 

All Assembly had been held [March 1624,] 
and its acts are preserved. They are brief 
and simple, coming- directly to the point, 
without the tautology of modern statutt 
refer mainly to agriculture, the church estab- 
lishment and defence against the Indians, f 
[August 1624.] The king granted a commis- 
sion, re-nominating Sir Thomas Wyatt Gov- 
ernor, appointing a council during pie 
and purposely omitting all mention of an 
assembly, thinking, " so popular a course'' 
the chief source of recent troubles. Tints in 
i (feet a royal government was established in 
Virginia. Hitherto she had been subject to 
a three-fold legislation of the company, the 



■* This is candidly admitted by that "faithful chron 
Stith, although no one could be more strenuously op 
to the means employed. 

t Hening's Statutes, vol. 1, pp. 119-20 and 129 30. 

The following is a list of members of this early A 
bly: 

Sir Francis Wyatt, Knt. Governor, iVc. 
Capt. Fran's West. John Pott. 

Sir George Yeardley. Capt. Rogei 

George Sandys, Treasurer. Capt. Ralph iiumr. 
and John Pountis, of the Council. 

Burgesses. 

William Tucker. Xaili.un' I 

Jabez Whitakers. John Willcox. 

William I Nicholas Marten. 

Raleigh Crashaw. < lemenl Dilke. 

Richard Kingsmell. Isaack Chaplin. 

Edward Blany. John Chew. 

Luke Boy se. John 1 i ie. 

John Poll ington. John Southeme. 

Nathaniel Causey. Rii hard B 

Robert Adams. Henry Watkins. 

Thomas Harris. t fabi iel Ho 

Richard Stephens. 'I homas Morlatt. 
R. Hickman, Clerk. 



iclei 

1 



crown and her own president or governor 
and council. * 

[1625.] The French had at an early date 
established themselves in Canada ; the Dutch 
were now colonizing New Netherlands; the 
English were extending their confines in 
New England and Virginia; while the Span- 
iards, the first settlers of the coast, still held 
some feeble posts in Florida. 

Wyati returning to Ireland "to manage 
his affaires" there. [1626,] was succeeded 
by Sir George Yeardley. He, during the 
same year, by proclamation which now usurp- 
ed the place of law, prohibited the selling of 
| corn to the Indians, made some commercial 
regulations and directed houses to be pali- 
saded. In the following year, Yeardley dy- 
ing, was succeeded [November 14th, 1627,] 
by Francis West. 

James I. had made tobacco the subject 
of extortion and violation of the charter. 
Charles I., in a letter dated June 16th, 1628, 
proposed, that a monopoly of the tobacco 
trade should be granted to him and recom- 
mended the culture of several new products, 
and desired that an assembly should be call- 
ed to take these matters into consideration. 

On the 26th of March ensuing the Assem- 
bly replied by demanding a higher price and 
i. tore favorable conditions than his majesty 
was disposed to yield. As to the introduc- 
tion of new staple's they explained why that 
was impracticable. This letter was signed by 
Francis West Governor, five members of the: 



* Chalmers' Introduction, vol. 1, p. 22. Beverley, how- 
ever, Book L, p. 47, says expressly that an asseml 
allowed. " The country being thus taken into the king's 
hands, his majesty was pleased to establish the constitu- 
tion to be a governor, council and assembly, and to confirm 
the former methods and jurisdictions ol the several courts, 
as they had been appointed in the year 1C20 and placed the 
last resort in the assembly." 

Burk, too, vol. 2, p. 15, although befoggi d as to the grant 
of authority to call an assembly, asserts that, "Assemblies 
convened and deliberated in the usual form, unchecked and 
uninterrupted b >m the dissolul ion of 

the proprietary government to the period when a i 
constitution was -cut over with Sir W. Berkeli j in 1639." 
Foi authority a document in the Appendix is referred to, 
but it is not to be found i Ira e. 

'i'n i> inions oi Chalmers and Hening, confirmed by a 
corresponds ; chasm in the records, outweigh the 
Beverley and Burk. From 1623 lo 1628, there appears no 
mention on the Statute book, or in the journal of the \ ir- 
ginia Company, of any assembly having been held in the 
made to the ovi rnor and 
council, whereas they would have been made to thi As- 
sembly had il met. 



54 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XVII. 



council and thirty-one members of the house 
of burgesses. 

" Captain Francis West continued Gov- 
ernor till the 5th of March, 1628, and then 
(he being designed to go for England,) John 
Pott, Esq., was elected Governor by the 
Council." '■ 

[1627.] The Governor, Sir George Yeard- 
ley, with two or three of the Council, resi- 
ded for the most part at Jamestown. The 
rest of the council repaired there as occa- 
sion required. There was, however, a gen- 
eral meeting of the Governor and Council, 
every three months. The population of the 
colony was estimated at between 1500 and 
2000. These inhabited seventeen or eigh- 
teen plantations. The greater part of these, 
" towards the falls," were well fortified 
against the Indians by means of palisades. 
The planters living above Jamestown now 
found means to procure an abundant supply 
of fish. On the banks of the James, the 
red men were now seldom seen, their fires 
in the woods frequently. The number of 
cattle in Virginia was variously reckoned 
from 2000 to 5000 head. The stock of goats 
was large and their increase rapid; the woods 
were stocked with wild hogs, which were 
killed and " eaten by the; Salvages." There 
was no family in the colony " so poore" as 
had not " tame Swine sufficient." Poultry 
was equally abundant. Bread was plenty 
and good. For drink the colonists used a 
home-made ale, " but the better sort are well 
furnished with Sacke, Jlquavitaz, and good 
English Beere. The common diet of the 
servants was " Milko Homini, which is bruiz- 
ed Indian Conic pounded and boiled thicke 
and milke for the sauce." This dish was in 
esteem also with the better sort. The plan- 
ters were generally provided with arms and 
armour, "and euerie Holy-day everie Plan- 
tation dotli exercise their men in Amies. In 
which meanes, hunting and fowling, the 
most part of them are most excellent mark- 
men." Tobacco was the only crop cultiva- 
ted lor sale. The health of the country was 
greatly improved by clearing, whereby "the 
Sunne hath power to exhale up the rnoysl 
vapours of the earth." ( 1629. | Most of the 
land about Jamestown was cleared of wood: 
little corn planted : hut all the ground " con- 
verted into pasture and gardens, wherein 

* 1 Hening. p. .'! am! 1. 



doth grow all manner of herbs and roots we 
have in England in abundance, and as rrood 
grasse as can be." Here was kept the great- 
er part of the cattle of the colony, the own- 
ers being dispersed about on the plantations 
and returning to Jamestown, as inclination 
prompted, or at the arrival of shipping come 
to trade. [1629.] The population of Vir- 
ginia was supposed to amount to 5000, — the 
cattle from 2000 to 5000. The colony had a 
surplus of provisions sufficient to feed 400 
more than its own number of inhabitants. 
Vessels procured supplies there, and the num- 
ber arrived during this year was 23. Salt fish 
was procured from New England. Kecough- 
tan, (Hampton,) supplied peaches. " Mis- 
tresse Pearce, an honest industrious woman, 
hath beene there neere twentie yeares and 
now returned [to England] saith, shee hath a 
Garden at James towne containing three or 
foure acres, where in one yeare, she hath 
gathered neere an hundred bushels of excel- 
lent figges, and that of her owne provision 
she can keepe a better house in Virginia, 
than here in London for 3 or 400 pounds a 
yeare yet went thither with little or noth- 
ing." The colonists now found the Indian 
com so much better for bread than wheat, 
that they began to quit sowing it. 

An assembly met at Jamestown, [October, 
16th 1620,] consistingof JohnPott, Governor, 
four councillors and forty-six burgesses re- 
turned from twenty-three plantations. Pott 
was superseded in the same year by Sir John 
Harvey, * commissioned by the king. Sir 
John first met the Assembly, March 24th, 
1629. The late Governor was, during the fol- 
lowing year, Rob-Roy-like convicted of steal- 
ing cattle. The ancient records preserve 
some particulars of the trial: — "July the 
9th, 1630. — Dr. John Pott, late Governor, 
indicted, arraigned and found guilty of steal- 
ing cattle : 13 jurors, 3 whereof councellors. 
This day wholly spent in pleading; next day 
in unnecessary disputation: Pott endeavor- 
ing to prove Mr. Kingswell, (one of the wit- 
nesses againsl him,) an hypocrite, by a sto- 
ry of Gusman of Alfrach the rogue. In re- 

* So commonly written according to the vulgar con- 
temporaneous pronuiici.il urn, but properly Hervey, Pott 
" continued Govemoi nil .some time between Octobei and 
March, 1629, (or on the 4th of March the Quarter court 
ordered an Assembly to be called to meet Sir John Harvey 
on the '.Mill, an. I nothing was done after Sbr in Pott's name 
that can be found." I lien. p. t. 



1630-36.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



55 



gard of his quality and practice, judgment 
respited till the king's pleasure known: and 
all the councel became his security." * Sir 
John Harvey, the new Governor, was one 
of the Commissioners who had been senl 
out by the king to Virginia, [1623,] for the 
purpose of investigating the state of the col- 
ony and of procuring evidence, which might 
serve to justify the dissolution of the Virginia 
Company. Harvey had also been a mem- 
ber of the provisional Government, [1625.] 
Returning now* to Virginia, no doubt with 
embittered recollections of the violent col- 
lisions with the Assembly, in which as a 
commissioner he had been formerly involved, 
he did not fail to imitate the arbitrary rule 
that prevailed "at home" and to render him- 
self odious to the Virginians. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
1630—1636. 

George Lord Baltimore visits Virginia; Procures from 
Charles I. a grant of territory; Acts of Virginia Assem- 
bly; Charles I. appoints a Council of Superintendence 
for Virginia ; Ac's of Virginia Assembly; George L rd 
Baltimore dies ; The patent of territory devolves upon 
his son Cecilius Lord Baltimore ; He employ., his brother 
Leonard Calvert to found the Colony of Mary hind ; Wil- 
liam Claiborne having settled a trading post on Kent 
d, Virginia appeals to the crown against the grant to 
Baltimore; The decision in favor of Baltimore; Clai- 
borne foments disturbances in Maryland ; Convicted of 
high crimes; Escapes to Virginia; Harvey refuses to sur- 
render him to the proprietary "of Maryland ; Sends him 
with witnesses to England for trial; The question again 
determined in favor of Maryland; Harvey gives away 
large bodies ol \ irginia territory ; His corrupt and tyran- 
nical administration ; (Jnhapp) condition of the Colonj 
Exasperation of the Virginians ; Har 
to return to England to answer charges; Charles I. of- 
fended re-instates 1 lai vey. 

Sir George Calvert, a strenuous defender 

* 1 Hening.p. 145 1 46. In the note to p. 145 is a 
from the journal of the proceedings ol a Court held at 
James City, November 16th, 1627. " \i this Court the 
lad) Ten:/' i came and did fully an 

lutely confirme as much as in her lay, the coovi \ ince m ide 
by her late I lu- 1 1,1 ml, Sir George Veardley Knt, I die Gov- 
ernor deceased, unto Abraham Persey, Esq., foi the lands 
of Flowerdien Hundred, being one thousand acres and of 
Weanoake on the opposite side of the water being 2200 
acres." The name of the Governor's Lady Temperance 
is Puritanical. Another such was Obedience Robins, a 
Burgess of " Accowmacke" in 1630, See ] Hening, p. 149. 



of the royal prerogative, in 1624 became a 

convert to the Roman Catholic faith. I [e was 
nevertheless shortly afterwards created by 
.lames !. Baron of Baltimore, in the county 
of Longford, in Ireland. Finding himself 
compelled to relinquish a plantation, settled 
under his auspices in \cw foundland, and be- 
ing still bent upon seeking a retirement in 
the new world, for the quiet exercise ol' his 
religion, he came over to Virginia early in 
[1630.] The Assembly was in session at his 
arrival and proposed to his lordship that he 
and his followers should take the oaths of 
supremacy and allegiance. This he declined 
and the Assembly referred the matter to the 
king in council. Nor did this wise and esti- 
mable nobleman escape personal indignity. 
In the ancient records is found this singular 
entry, ''March 25th 1630. Tho : Tindall to be 
pillory'd 2 hours lor giving my Ld Baltimore 
the lye and threatening to knock him down." * 
His lordship, however, finding the Virginians 
universally averse to the very name of papist, 
proceeded to the head of the Chesapeake 
bay and finding an attractive territory on 
the North side of the Potomac, unoccupied, 
returned to England and procured from the 
king a grant of that part of Virginia, after- 
wards known as Maryland, t 

Ministers were ordered in session of March 
1630 to " conforme themselves in all thinges, 
according to tin; cannons of the church of 
England." Measures were adopted for the 
erection of a fort at Point Comfort. .New 
comers were made exempt from military ser- 
vice during the first year after their arrival. 
Provisions were made against engrossing 
and forestalling. For the furtherance of tin; 
production of pot ashes and salt-petre, ex- 
periments were ordered to lie made. To pre- 
vent a search} of com il was ordered, ••that 
two acre- of corne or neere thereabouts, bee 
planted for every head that worketh in the 
grounde." Regulations were established for 
the improvement of the staple of tobacco. 
An acl provided, " that the warr begun uppon 



* 1 Hpning, p 

t Belknap, 3. 20G, 210. Burk,2,25. Hawks, IT. 'I hi se 
historians date Lord Baltimore's visit to Virginia in 1628, 
but without citing authority. I rely mainly upon the date 
of the sentence of Tindall. The old Lord Baltimore visit- 
\ in .i onl) 'me,' and it is air igether proba i thai I in - 
did] was punished immediately upon his assault. £ 

..III, is. Chalmers' Anna!-, 200 201. Neither 
mention the date in question. 



56 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XVIII. 



the Indians, bee effectually followed and that 
noe peace bee concluded with them." * 

The first act of the session of February 
1632 provides: " That theire bee auniformitie 
throughout this colony both in substance and 
circumstance to the cannons and constitution 
of the church of England as neere as may 
bee, and that every person yeald readie obe- 
dience unto them uppon penaltie of the 
paynes and forfeitures in that case appoynt- 
ed." Another act directs that "Mynisters 
shall not give themselves to excesse in drink- 
inge or riott spending theire tyine idellye by 
day or night playinge at dice cards or any 
other unlawfull game;" Another order was, 
" that all the counsell and burgisses of the 
assembly shall in the morninge be present at 
devine service in the rooine where they sitt at 
the third beatings of the drum, an hower after 
sun rise." No person was suffered to " tend" 
above fourteen leaves nor gather above nine 
leaves of a tobacco plant, nor to tend " any 
slipps of old stalkes of tobacco, or any of 
the second cropps." And it was ordained 
that all tobacco should be " taken down" be- 
fore the end of November. No person "shall 
dare to speake or parlie with any Indians 
either in the woods or in any plantation, yt 
if he can possibly avoyd it by any meanes." 
The spirit of constitutional freedom showed 
itself in an Act declaring " That the Governor 
and Counsell shall not lay any taxes or impo- 
sitions uppon the colony theire land or com- 
modities otherwise than by the authorities of 
the Grand Assembly to be levyed and ym- 
ployed as by the Assembly shall be appoynt- 
ed." Act XL. provides that, "the Governor 
shall not withdrawe the inhabitants from 
theire private labours to service of his own 
uppon any couller whatsoever." In case of 
emergency "thelevyinge of men shallbedone 
by the Governor and whole bodie of the Coun- 
sell." "For encouragement of men to plant 
-loir of come the prize shall not, he stinted 
but, it shall be- free for every man to sell it as 
deere as he can." "Noe man shall goe to 
worke in the grounds without theire arms 
and a centinell uppon them." There shall 
be due watch kept by night where neede re- 
quires." "No commander of any plan 
shall either himselfe or suffer others to spend 
powder unnecessarilie that :.. to say in drink- 
inge or enterteynments." " All men that 

* 1 Henine, 140 U ! 



are fittinge to beare armes shall bringe their 
i to the Church." Noe person within 
this colony uppon the rumour of supposed 
charge and alteration shall presume to be 
disobedient the present government nor ser- 
vants to theire private officers masters and 
overseers at their uttermost perills." "That 
no boats be permitted to goe and trade to 
Canida or elsewhere that be not of the bur- 
then of ten tunns and have a flush decke or 
fitted with a gratinge and a tarpauiinge, ex- 
ceptinge such as be permitted for discovery 
by a speciall Lycense from the Governor." * 

[1632.] Charles I. issued a commission 
appointing a council of superintendence over 
Virginia, empowering them to ascertain the 
state and condition of the colony. The com- 
missioners were Edward Earl of Dorset, 
Henry Earl of Derby, Dudley viscount Dor- 
r, Sir John Coke, Sir John Davers, Sir 
Robert Killegrew, Sir Thomas Rowe, Sir 
Robert Heath, Sir Kineage Tench, Sir Dud- 
ley Diggs, Sir John Holstenholm, Sir Francis 
Wyatt, Sir John Brooks, Sir Kenelm Digby, 
Sir John Tench, John Banks, Esq., Thomas 
Gibbs, Esq., Samuel Rott, Esq., George 
Sands, Esq., John Wolstenholm, Esq., Nich- 
olas Ferrar, Esq., Gabriel Barber, and John 
Ferrar, Esquires. t 

The elaborate acts for improving the sta- 
nd regulating the trade in it 
evince the increasing importance of that 
crop. Tithes were imposed and the " twen- 
tyeth calfe kidd and pigge graunted unto the 
Mynister." [1633.] Every 40th man in the 
neck of land between the James and the 
York, [then called the Charles,] was directed 
to repair to the plantation of Dr. John Pott, 
to he " imployed in buildinge of houses and 
ing that tract of land lyinge betweene" 
" Queen's creeke in Charles' river and Ar- 
cher's Hope creeke in James river." This 
vliddle Plantation now Williamsburg. 
All new comers were ordered "to pay 64 lb 
of Tobacco to the mayntenance of the fort at 
Poynt < lomfort." | 

I [Jenii L55 ! 38, 162, 164, 165, 107, 171, 172, 173, 

; > Rurk, :!.".. 

| 1 II, nu, ;, i 33, [90, 208, 222. The pay of the officers 
at Point Comfort was at ihis time. 

lb. Tobo. BBls. Corn 

To the Captayni of the ffort 2000 10 

•« Gunner 1000 G 

" Dummer ami !\ rter 

For t ni hei men each r>l them 
500 lb. Tobo. 1 BBls Corn. 2000 



0000 



L6 

38 



1630-36.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



57 



Thus far, under Harvey's administration, 

the Assembly had met regularly, and several 
judicious and wholesome acts had been 
passed. 

As early as 1620, John Pory explored the 
Chesapeake bay and found one hundred 
English happily settled on its borders, ani- 
mated with the hope of a very good trade in 
furs.* "During the years 1627, 28, 29 the 
Governors of Virginia gave authority to Wil- 
liam Clayborne ' Secretary of State of this 
kingdom,' as that most ancient dominion was 
then called, to discover the source of the bay 
of Chesapeake or any part of that govern- 
ment from the 34th to the 41st degree of 
North latitude." t [May 16th, 1631.] Charles 
I. granted a license to " our trusty and well- 
beloved William Clayborne, one of the coun- 
cil and Secretary of State for our colony of 
Virginia" authorizing him to make discove- 
ries and trade. This license was, by the royal 
instructions, confirmed by Governor Harvey 
and Clayborne, shortly afterwards settled 
a trading post on Kent Island lying in the 
Chesapeake bay, not far from the present 
capital Annapolis. A burgess was returned, 
[1632,] from the Isle of Kent to the Assem- 
bly at Jamestown. $ [1633.] A warehouse 
was established "in Southampton river for 
the inhabitants of Marie's Mount, Elizabeth 
Citty, Accawmacke and the Isle of Kent." § 
In the meantime the old Lord Baltimore dy- 
ing at London [1632,] before his patent was 
executed, it was confirmed to his son Cecil, 
or Cecilius. He engaged the services of his 
brother Leonard Calvert, who accordingly 
came over, [1633,] accompanied by two hun- 
dred Roman Catholic gentlemen and founded 
the Colony of Maryland. The name was 
given in honor of Henrietta Maria, queen 
consort of Charles I. of England, and dan. 1 li- 
ter of Henry IV. of France. 

Leonard Calvert sailed from Cowes in the 
Isle of Wight Nov. 22, 1633, St. Cecilia's day. 
[Feb. 27, 1634.] He and his companions 
reached Point Comfort, filled with apprehen- 
sions of the hostility of the Virginians to 
their colonial enterprise. Letters, however, 
from Charles I. and the Chancellor of the 

* Chalmers' Annals, 206. 
t Chainlets' Annals, p. 



Exchequer conciliated Governor Harvey, who 
hoped by his kindness to the Maryland colo- 
nists to ensure the recovery of a large sum of 
money due him from the royal treasury. Cal- 
vert after a hospitable entertainment of eight 
or nine days, embarked on the 3rd of March 
for Maryland. Clayborne, who had accompa- 
nied Harvey to Point Comfort to see the stran- 
gers, did not fail to alarm them by accounts 
of the hostile spirit that they would find in 
the Maryland Indians. Calvert on arriving 
in Maryland was accompanied in his explo- 
rations of the country by Capt. Henry Fleet, 
a Virginian familiar with the settlements and 
lanffuasre of the savages. It was under Fleet's 
direction that Calvert selected the site of St. 
Mary's, the ancient capital of Maryland, * 

The Virginians dissatisfied with the grant 
to Lord Baltimore remonstrated, [May 1633,] 
to the king in council against what " will be 
a general disheartening to them if they shall 
be divided into several governments." Fu- 
ture events were about to strengthen their 
sense of the justice of this opposition. [July, 
1633.] The case was decided in the Star 
Chamber, the Privy Council thinking " it fit 
to leave Lord Baltimore to his patent and the 
other parties to the course of law according 
to their desire," recommending at the same 
time a spirit of amity and " good correspon- 
dence" between the planters of the two 
colonies. So futile a decision could not ter- 
minate the contest. Clayborne continued to 
claim Kent Island and to abnegate the juris- 
diction of the infant Maryland. And, [March 
14th, 1634,] at a meeting of the Governor 
and council of Virginia, Clayborne enquired 
of them how he should demean himself to- 
wards Lord Baltimore and his deputies in 
Maryland who claimed jurisdiction over the 
Colony at Kent isle. In answer to this in- 
quiry, the Governor anil council declared 
"that the right of my lord's granl being yet 
undetermined in England, we are bound in 
duty and by our oaths to maintain the rights 
and privileges of this Colony." Neverthe- 
less, "in all humble submission to his majes- 
ty's pleasure," they resolved "to keep and 
observe all good correspondence" with the 

♦ While's Relation. I Force. White, a Jesuit Mis- 
sionary, says of Fieri :— " Al the first lie v\,is verj friendly 



T ^naimers minais, p. -i-ii . oiuu»iji»»j-» — ■ 

%\ Hening, 151. Chalmers' Annals, 227-229, where tons; afterwards seduced by the evil counsels ol a cer- 

Cla> home's license may be found. tain Clayborne, who entertained the mosl hostile disposition, 

i) Hening, 1, 211. he stirred up the minds of the Natives against us." 



8 



58 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XVIII. 



Maryland new-comers. * [September 1634.] 
Lord Baltimore gave orders to sieze Clay- 
borne if he did not submit to the proprietary 
government of Maryland, t Clayborne ex- 
cited the jealousy of the Indians, persuading 
them that the " new-comers" were Spaniards 
and enemies to the Virginians, and he in- 
fused his own spirit of insubordination into 
the inhabitants of Kent Island. He was at 
length indicted and found guilty of murder, 
piracy and sedition — constructive crimes 
inferred from his insubordination. He es- 
caping, however, took refuge in Virginia. 
His estate was siezed as forfeited, t 

Harvey refused to surrender the fugitive 
Clayborne to the Maryland commissioners, 
and sent him, if we are to rely on a doubtful 
relation, to England, accompanied by the wit- 
nesses. § If such was the case, there is at 
least no evidence to be found that he was 
subjected to any trial. 

The grant to Baltimore opened the way for 
similar grants to other court favorites of lands 
lying to the North and to the South of Vir- 
ginia. And while Charles I. was lavishing 
vast tracts of Virginia territory upon his fa- 
vorites, Sir John Harvey, in collusion with 
the royal commissioners, imitated the royal 
munificence, by giving away large bodies not 
only of the crown-lands but even such as 
belonged to private planters. In the contests 
between Clayborne and the proprietary of 
Maryland, while the people of Virginia warm- 
ly espoused Clayborne's cause, Harvey sided 
with Baltimore. Harvey proved himself alto- 
gether a fit instrument of the administration 
then tyrannizing in England, llv was " se- 
vere in his extortions and forfeitures, proud 
in his councils and unjust and arbitrary in 
every department of his government." He 
issued numerous proclamations in derogation 
of the legislative powers of the Assembly; 
assessed, levied and held the colonial revenue 
without check or responsibility; transplanted 
into Virginia English statutes hitherto un- 
known: multiplied new penalties and exac- 



* Chalmers' Annals, 230. Chalmers is more full and 
satisfactorj in ins account of Maryland because lie had 
resided there lor many years. 

t Ibid., 210. 

t Ibid, 211-232. There was " in examination of the 
King of Paluxent relative to Clay home's intrigues." 

§Burk, II. Who refers as usual to "Ancient Records." 

There is reason to douht tin- state nt, because < !halmers, 

the best authority in tins matter; maUs no allusion to it. 



tions, and under pretence of supplying the 
deficiency of a scanty salary appropriated 
fines to his own use. However, the As- 
sembly met regularly and the legislation of 
the Colony expanded itself. 

Nevertheless, the condition of the colony 
was miserable. Charles wasted her territory 
and by his ordinances established a grinding 
monopoly of her tobacco. In those days of 
prerogative an application to the Commons 
for redress proved fruitless. [July, 1634.] 
At length the committee of Council for the 
colonies compassionating Virginia, trans- 
mitted instructions to the Governor and 
council, saying, " that 'tis not intended that 
interests which men have settled when you 
were a corporation, should be impeached ; 
that for the present * they may enjoy their 
estates with the same freedom and privilege 
as they did before the recalling of their pat- 
ents," and authorizing the appropriation of 
lands to the planters as had been the former 
custom. Whether these concessions were 
inadequate in themselves, or were not car- 
ried into effect by Harvey, upon the petition 
of many of the inhabitants, an Assembly was 
called to meet on the 7th of May, 1635, to 
hear complaints against that obnoxious gov- 
ernor, t However, on the 28th of April, 
Harvey was by the council " thrust out of 
government and Captain John West acts as 
Governor till the King's pleasure known." t 
The charges alleged against Sir John were 
his haughtiness, rapacity and cruelty; his con- 
tempt of the rights of the colonists and his 
usurpation of the privileges of the council. 
The deposed Governor agreeing to embark 
for London to answer the complaints against 

* By the words, " for the present," was probably intend- 
ed " at the prest nt" — '• now." 

t There being hardly any point in which the people of a 
Stale are more sensitive than in regard to territory, it may 
wiih -noil reason be concluded, that one of the chief of- 
lenees ot Harvey was his having sided with Baltimore in 
Ins infrai lion of the Virginia territory. A historian of Vir- 
ginia has stigmatized Clayborne as an " unprincipled in- 
cendiary," and " execrable villain," and after denouncing 
Sir John Harvey lor refusing to surrender the fugitive 
Clayborne to the demand of the proprietary of Maryland, 
ail. Is, •' Hut the lime uas al hand, when this rapacious and 
tyrannical prefect, [Harvey,] would experience how vain 
and ineffectual arc the projects of tyranny, when oppo- 
sed lo ilie indignation of freemen." If, however, Clay- 
bome was indeed sent by Harvey to England for trial, 

nothing could have more inflamed " the indignation of free- 
men" than such treatment of an intrepid vindicator of their 
territorial rights. See Burk, vol 2, pp. 40-41. 
I Hen. 1, p. 223. Chalmers' Annals, p. 113. 



1636-49.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



59 



him, the Assembly afterwards collected the 
evidence and deputed two councillors 
out with him to prefer the charges. Charles, 
offended at the presumption of the council 
and Assembly, re-instated Sir John, and he 
resumed his place, [January, 1636.] ; 



CHAPTER XIX. 

1636—1619. 

Wyatt Governor; Succeeded by Sir William Berkley ; 
The Assembly's Declaration against the restoration ol 
the Virginia Company and Petition to the King; Reply 
of Charles F. dated at York ; Indian Massacre of 164 ! ; 
Opechancanough made prisoner; His heroUm in misfor- 
tune; He is murdered by one of his guards; The civil 
war in England; Loyalty of Virginia; Clayborne drives 
Lord Baltimore from Maryland and usurps his govern- 
ment; Opechancanough dies and is succeeded by Neco- 
towance ; A treaty effected with him; [is provisions; 
Livers Acts of Assembly; State of other Colonies on 
the Atlantic Coast; Charles I. executed ; Question rela- 
tive to the validity of the Colonial Government ; Assem- 
bly of 1649; Its loi 

In 1634 the colony of Virginia had been 
divided into eight shires, James City, Hen- 
rico, Charles City, Elizabeth City, Warwick 
river, Warrasqueake, Charles River and Ac- 
comac. t " During the reign of James I. 
and a great part of that of his successor, the 
superintendence of the Colonies was lodged 
in the privy-council, which will be found to 
have exercised during those times very ex- 
traordinary powers, t '• In April, 1630, a 
commission" for regulating plantations " was 
granted to the great officers of State, invest- 
ing thein with an authority legislative and 
executive." § 

Harvey after his restoration continued to 
be Governor for about three years. During 
this period there appears to have beet! no 
meeting of the Assembly and of tins part of 
Harvey's administration no record i- 

[July 14th, 1638.] Charles 1. addressed a 
letter to Lord Baltimore; referring to hi 



* Keith, p. 142-3. Beverley B.l, p. 50. Grahaim 

U. S., vol. I, | 

t 1 Hening, p. li! The original name Pamaun 
then beei Charles River, v. hich afti 

gave « ay lo Voi k. 

t Chalmers' Annals, in Preface. This work of w! ich 
only one volume was ever published, is a quarto of about 
TOO pa: ps. 



mer letters to " our Governor and Coun- 
cil of Virginia and to others our office's and 
sub] cts in these parts, we signified ourplea- 
sure that. William Clayborne, David More- 
head and other planters in the island near 
Virginia, which they have nominated Kent- 
ish-island, should in no sort be interrupted 
by you, or an) other in your right, but rather 
he encouraged to proceed in so good a 
The king goes on to complain to 
Baltimore, that his agents, i:i despite ol' the 
royal instructions, had " slain three of our 
subjects there and by force possessed them- 
selves by night of that island and seized and 
carried away both the persons and estates of 
the said planters." Charles concludes by 
enjoining a strict compliance with his for- 
mer orders. * 

At length, [April 4th, 1639. J the Lords 
Commissioners of plantations, with Land 
Archbishop of Canterbury at their head, held 
a meeting at Whitehall and finally determin- 
ed the claims of Clayborne to part of Mary- 
land. This decision was in consequence of 
; petition presented, [1637,] by Clayborne 
to the kinir, claiming by virtue of discovery 
and settlement Kent Island and "another 
plantation upon the mouth of a river in the 
bottom ol' the said bay, in the Susquesaha- 
nough's country," and complaining of the 
attempts of Lord Baltimore's agents there, 
to dispossess him and his associates and of 
outrages committed upon them. The deci- 
sion was now absolutely in favor of Balti- 
more. Clayborne despairing of any peace- 
able redress, began to meditate revenge. 

Charles 1. had now lor many years gov- 
erned England by prerogative without a. par- 
::?. At length his necessities con- 
strained him lo convene one, and his appre- 
ms ol' th id the revolt of the 

ions of the 
national discontent, admonished him to miti- 
gate the despotism of Ins colonialrule. Ac- 
cordingly, [November, 16 he unpopular 
[Larve) u as di: placed by Sir Franci; 
att. f Harve\ . how ill remained in 
Virginia a member of the cor 

W\ 1642,] to Sir 



■ |nl '■: I F: 'In r Jo I - 
vener a Jesiiil Mtssionar) resided at Kent Island. White's 

iiion. Fi ' 

. | - . '.' |] ..-, 



60 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XIX. 



William Berkley, an accomplished cavalier, 
destined to occupy the helm of Virginia for 
a very long period and to undergo several 
extraordinary vicissitudes of fortune. By some 
salutary regulations, which he introduced 
shortly after his arrival, and by his honorable 
character and winning address, he soon ren- 
dered himself very acceptable to the Virgini- 
ans. 

[1st of April, 1642.] The Assembly made 
a declaration against the restoration of the 
Virginia Company then proposed, denoun- 
cing it as having been the source of intoler- 
able calamities to the colony by its illegal 
proceeding, barbarous punishments and mo- 
nopolizings policy. They insisted that its 
restoration would cause them to degenerate 
from the condition Of their birth-right and con- 
vert them from subjects of a monarchy, to the 
creatures of a popular and tumultuary govern- 
ment, to which they would be obliged to resign 
their lands held from the crown, which they in- 
timate if necessary would be more fitly re- 
signed to a branch of the royal family than 
to a corporation. They averred that the re- 
vival of the company would prove a death- 
blow to freedom of trade, the life-blood of a 
commonwealth. Finally the assembly pro- 
tested against the restoration of the compa- 
ny, and denounced severe penalties against 
any who should countenance the scheme. : ' : 
This remonstrance, together with a petition, 
being communicated to the King, then at 
York, he answered it, engaging never to re- 
store the company. 

The following is the King's letter: 
" C. R. 

Trusty and well-beloved we greel you well. 
Whereas we have received a petition from 
you, our Governor, council and burgesses of 
the grand assembly in Virginia, together with 
a declaration and protestation of the 1st 
of April, against a petition presented in your 
names to our House of Commons in this our 
kingdom, for restoring of the letters patent 
for the incorporation of the late treasurer 
and council, contrary to our intenl and mean- 
ing and against all such as shall go about to 
alienate you from our immediate protection. 
A 1 1 d whereas you desire by your petition that 
we should confirm this your declaration and 
protestation under our royal si net and trans- 

* Urn. 1, p. S30 et seq. Burk 2, p. 65 



mit the same to that our colony ; these are 
to signify, that your acknowledgments of our 
great bounty and favors towards you and 
your so earnest desire to continue under our 
immediate protection, are very acceptable to 
us : and that as we had not before the least 
intention to consent to the introduction of 
any company over that our colony, so we 
are by it much confirmed in our former reso- 
lutions, as thinking it unfit to change a form 
of government wherein, (besides many other 
reasons given and to be given,) our subjects 
there, (having had so long experience of it,) 
receive so much content and satisfaction. 
And this our approbation of your petition and 
protestation, we have thought fit to transmit 
unto you, under our royal signet. Given 
at our Court, at York, the 5th of July, 1642. 
To our trusty and well-beloved our 
Governor, Council and Burgesses 
of the grand assembly of Virginia."* 

As early as 1619 a small party of English 
Puritans had come over to Virginia. A lar- 
ger number would have followed them, but 
they were prevented by a royal proclama- 
tion, t [1642.] A deputation was sent from 
some Virginia dissenters to Boston solicit- 
ing a supply of pastors from the New Eng- 
land churches. Three clergymen were ac 
cordingly sent with letters recommending 
them to the Governor, Sir William Berkeley. 
On their arrival in Virginia they began to 
preach in various parts of the country and 
the people flocked eagerly to hear them, t 
[March, 1643.] The Assembly of Virginia 
passed the following act. " Ffor the pres- 
ervation of the puritie of doctrine and vnitie 
of the church, It is enacted that all minis- 
ters whatsoever which shall reside in the col- 
lony are to be conformable to the orders and 
constitutions ol" the Church of England and 
the laws therein established and nototherwise 
to be admitted to teach or preach publiekly 
or privatly, And that the Gov. and Counsel 
do take care that all noncomformists vpon 
notice ol' theie shall be compelled to depart 
the collony with all convenience." § Sir 
William Berkley equally averse to the reli- 
gious tenets and political principles of the 



* ('!. ilmrrs' \nnals, p. 133-4. 
t Graliamp, Amrr. Ed. 1, p. 110. 
t Grah; Am >r. Ed. 1. p. 192. 

V ili niii- 1 , p. 217. 



1636-49.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



61 



Puritan preachers, issued a proclamation in 
consonance with this act. " They had little 
encouragement from the rulers of the place, 
but they had a kind entertainment with the 
people." * And " though the State did si- 
lence the ministers because they would not 
conform to the order of England, yet the 
people resorted to them in private houses to 
hear them." t In a short time, however, the 
New England preachers returned to their 
own country, t 

The Indians, whose hatred to the whites 
had long slumbered, but had never been di- 
minished, being offended by the encroach- 
ments made upon them by some of Sir John 
Harvey's grants, Opechancanough, headed 
them in a second massacre. It took place 
on the 18th of April, 1644. The destruction 
fell chiefly upon the settlements near the 
heads of the rivers, especially the York and 
on the south side of the James. The car- 
nage continued for two days and the num- 
ber of the slain was estimated at five hun- 
dred § 

There were not wanting those who sus- 
pected that Opechancanough was instigated 
by some of the English themselves, who in- 
formed him of the civil war then raging in 
England, and of the dissensions that dis- 
turbed the colony, and told him " that now was 
his time or never, to roote out all of the 
English." Had the Indians followed up their 
first blow, the Colonists must have been all 
cut off. But after their first treacherous on- 
slaught, their hearts failed them and they (led 
affrighted, " many miles distant off the colo- 
ny : which little space of time gave the Eng- 
lish, opportunity to gather themselves togeth- 
er, call an Assembly, secure their cattell and to 
thinke upon some way to defend themselves, 
if need were and then to offend their ene- 
mies, which by the great mercy of God was 

* Mather, cited by Hawks, p. 53-51. 

t Winthrop, cited by Hawks, p. 54. 

% Chalmers' Annals, p. 121. 

<j> Beverley, IS. I, p. 51. Burk, v. 2, p. 53 et seq. The 
circumstances of tins massacre are involved in doubt. 
Beverley fixes the Lime ol us occurrence in 1639, an evi- 
dent mistake us appears from Burk cited above, and Hen- 
ing, vol. 1, p. 450: "That the two-and-twentieth day ol 
March and the eighteenth 'lav of Aprill It yearly kept 
holie, in comemoration of our deliverance from the Indi- 
ans, at tin' bloody massacres the '-'.'ml day of March, 1621, 
and the eighteenth ol Aprill, 1644." See also Henin , \ 
I, pp. 289-90-91, and Drake's Book of the Indians, B. I. 
pp. 21-22. .Mr. Bancroft supposes the number of the slain 
not to have exceeded 300. 



done." Opechancanough, the fierce and 
implacable enemy of the whites, was now 
nearly a hundred years of age, I and the 
commanding form which had so often shone 
in scenes of blood was now worn down with 
the fatigues of war and bent with the weight 
of years. Unable to walk, he was carried 
from place to place by his followers. His 
flesh was macerated, and his eye-lids so 
powerless, that he could only see, when they 
were lilted up by his attendants. Sir Wil- 
liam at length with a party of horse, by a 
rapid inarch, surprised the superannuated 
warrior at some distance from his residence. 
He was carried a prisoner to Jamestown and 
kindly treated by the Governor. This mon- 
arch of the woods retained a spirit unbro- 
ken by decrepitude of body or calamities of 
fortune. Hearing footsteps in the room 
where he lay, he requested his eye-lids to be 
raised, when perceiving a crowd of specta- 
tors, he called for the governor, and upon 
his appearance, said to him, " had it been 
my fortune to take Sir William Berkley pris- 
oner, I would have disdained to make a show 
of him." Hq had, however, "made a show" 
of Captain Smith. About a fortnight after 
Opechancanough's capture, one of his guards 
for some private revenge shot him in the 
back. Languishing awhile of the wound he 
died, t His death brought about a peace 
with the Indians, which endured many years 
without interruption. 

Sir William Berkley left Virginia June, 
1644, and returned June, 1645. His place 
was filled dining his absence by Richard 
Kemp. The spirit of freedom awakened by 
the voice of the reformation began now to 
develop itself in England. The arbitrary 
temper of Charles I. excited the dissatisfac- 
tion of the nation and a violent opposition 
of parliament which exacted Ins asseni to 
the "petition of tight." The popular in- 
dignation was carried to the highest pitch 
by the raising of ship-money. Hampden 
o-loried in a personal resistance of this odi- 
ous tax. The Puritans were arrayed against 



«■ " New I >• a; iti f Virginia." Force, vol.2. 

f So say the chroniclers oi thai day, but as he was 
younger than Powhatan, Opechancanough « as probably not 
ninety at the time ol this massacre. Thatcher's Indian 
i 

! Beverley, B. 1, p 53. Keith, p. I 15 16. Opechanca- 
nough was probably buried at Jamestown. 



62 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XIX. 



the hierarchy, and Scotland was not less em- 
bittered against the king by his effort to force 
the liturgy upon her. [1640.] The necessi- 
ties of Charles prompted him to call togeth- 
er the Long Parliament. [1611.] Strafford 
was executed and Laud sent to the tower. 
[19th of March, 1642.] Charles reached 
York, and on the 25th of August raised his 
standard at Nottingham. After a contest of 
three years Charles was overthrown at Nase- 
by [June 4th, 164.5.] 

While the civil war was raging in England, 
Virginia remained loyal. The decrees of the 
Courts of high commission were the rule of 
conduct in Virginia, and the authority of 
Archbishop Laud was as absolute in the Co- 
lony as in the Mother County. * Penal acts 
were passed against the Puritans, although 
there were none in the colony. [1642.] Ste- 
phen Reekes was pilloried for two hours with 
a label on his back, expressing his offence, 
fined d£50 and imprisoned during pleasure, 
for saying " that his majesty was at confes- 
sion with the Lord of Canterbury." t Dur- 
ing the troubles in England, the correspon- 
dence of the colony was interrupted, the 
supplies reduced and trade obstructed. The 
planters looked forward with solicitude to 
the uncertain issue of such alarming events. | 

In the mean time Lord Baltimore taking 
advantage of the weakness of the crown, had 
shown some contempt for its authority and 
had drawn upon himself the threat of a quo 
warranto. [1642,] Maryland had been torn 
by faction and ravaged by Indian incursions. 
Early in 1645, Clayborne taking advantage of 
the distractions of the mother country, and 
animated by a turbulent spirit and by a sense 
of wrongs long unavenged, at the head of a 
band of insurgents, expelled Lord Baltimore 
from Maryland, and seized the reins < 
ernment. [August 1616.] Baltimore, who 
had fled to Virginia, regained command of 
the province. § Nevertheless Clayborne and 
his confederates (with but few exceptions) 
emerged from this singular contesl in impu- 
nity. 

Opechancanough was succeeded by Neco- 
towance, styled " king of the Indians." In 



» See Hawks, p. 51. 
t Hening, vol. 1 , p. 552. Bi 
the date and the culprit's name. 
j Beverley, B. 1. p. •"> :. 
>'; < Ihalmei s*s ''. nnals, p 



>1. ".,', p. 07, mistake: 



October, 1646, a treaty was effected, by 
which he agreed to hold his authority from 
the king of England (who however was now 
bereft of his own) while the assembly enga- 
ged to protect him from his enemies, in ac- 
knowledgment whereof, Necotowance was 
to deliver to the governor a yearly tribute of 
twenty beaver skins at the departure of the 
wild geese; * — the Indians to occupy the 
country on the north side of York river, and 
to cede to the English all the country be- 
tween the York and the James from the falls 
to Kiquotan ; — death for an Indian to be 
found in this territory unless sent in as a 
messenger ; messengers to be admitted into 
the colony by means of badges of striped 
cloth, and in general, felony for a white man 
to be found on the Indian hunting-ground, 
which was to extend from the head of Yapin, 
the Black-water, to the old Mannakin town 
on the James river ; badges to be received 
at Fort Royal and Fort Henry, alias Appo- 
mattox, &c. t Fort Henry had been estab- 
lished not long before this, at the falls of the 
Appomattox; Fort Charles at the falls of the 
James; Fort James on the Chickahominy t 
and Fort Royal, § on the Pamunkey. 

[1647.] Certain ministers refusing to read 
the common prayer upon the Sabbath, were 
declared not entitled to tythes. || [1645.] An 
act had been passed to exclude mercenary 
attornies and [1647] they were expressly pro- 
hibited from taking any recompense and the 
courts were ordered not to allow any pro- 
fessional attornies to appear " in private cau- 
ses between man and man in the country. "U 
[164S.] A guard of ten men was allowed to 
the governor, to protect him against treach- 
ery from the Indians, who visited him under 
pretence of negotiation, and from the disaf- 
fected oi' " a schismaticall party" in the Co- 
lony.** 

[1648.] '-One Captain Brocas, a gentleman 
Counsel, ;i great Traveller, caused a 
vineyard to be planted and hath most excel- 
lent Wini' made." 



+ Cohonk, "the cry of wild gees"," was one of the In- 
dian terms for w inter. 

i 1 [ening, vol. 1 , p. 

i ruler command ol Lieutenant Thomas Eolfe, son of 
Pocahontas. Towards the end of Kill, In' had petitioned 
I he ■ ovi rnoi for permission to visit Ins kinsman, i Ipechan- 
canough and Cleopat re, sister of his mother. Burk, vol. 2, 

I. fib 349. **I!j. 354. 



1636-49.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



63 



At Christmas, 1647, there were in the 
James river ten vessels from London, two 
from Bristol, twelve from Holland, and seven 
from New England. [1648.] "Mr. Richard 
Bennet had this veer out of his Orchard, as 
many Apples, as he made 20 Butts of excel- 
lent Cider." Sir William Berkley, " in his 
New Orchard, hath 15 hundred fruit-trees, 
besides his Apricocks, Peaches, Mellicotons, 
Quinces, Wardens and such like fruit." 
" Worthy Captaine Matthews, an old Planter 
of above thirty yeers standing, one of the 
Counsell and a most deserving Common- 
wealths-man," '-hath a fine house and all 
things answerable to it ; he sowes yeerly store 
of Hempe and Flax, and causes it to be spun ; 
he keeps Weavers and hath a Tan-house, 
causes Leather to be dressed : hath 
Shoemakers employed in their trade: hath 
forty J\'egroe servants, brings them up to 
Trades in his house. He yeerly sowes abun- 
dance of Wheat, Barley, &c. The Wheal 
he selleth at four Shillings the hushed ; kills 
store of Beeves and sells them to victual! the 
ships, when they come thither; hath abun- 
dance of Kine, a brave Dairy, Swine, great 
store and Poltery. He married the Daugh- 
ter of Sir Tho. Hinton, and in a word, keeps 
a good house, lives bravely and a true lover 
of Virginia; he is worthy of much honour."' 

There was, in 1648, a Free-school in \ r- 
ginia, with 200 acres of land appurtenant, a 
good house upon it, forty milch cows. tec. 



* "A New Description of Virginia," Force's Hist. Tracts, 
vol.2. There was published in 1648, "A Description of 
the Province of New Albion," the writer styling himself 
" Beauchamp Plantagenet of Beivil, in .New Albion, Es- 
quire." A royalist, flying from the fury of intestine vs.tr. 
he visited America, on behalf of a company of Adventu- 
rers, in quest of a place of settlement. In the course ol 
his wanderings, he visited Virginia. At "Newport's 
News" he received "kind entertainment at Captain Mat- 
thews, al Masti i Fantleroys and free quarter in all places, 
finding the Indian war ended, first by the valour, courage 
and hot charge of Captain Marshall and valiant Stilwel, 
and finished by the person-ill and resolute March ami V ic- 
tory of Sir William lovemour, thi re 

old King Ope C er." "I went to ( 

t ol Virginia, mi Paw ton 
It and Maryland, which I found healll ter thei 

t, tor then it was in war both •■ 
nocks ami all the Eastern Bay / idians and a civill war be- 
nts, assisted by 50 pi 
Virginians, by whom M. Leonard Calvert, Governour under 
his brother tiie Lord Baltamore, was ta 
pellet! : and the Isle of Kent taken from hi: 
tain Clayborn of Virginia ; yet 1 i ii . < c] Ki . 
and plashy having bad water." — See Description of New 
Albion, in 2 Force's Hist. Tracts. 



It was founded by Mr. Benjamin Symes. It 
is a pleasure to record the names of Mich 
public benefactors. "Other petty schools 
also we have" — probably such as now are 
known in Virginia as " old field school-." " 

" March 1648, JVickotowance came to James 
town, to our noble Governour, Sir William 
Bearkley, with five more petty kind's attend- 
ing him and brought twenty Beaver-skinnes, 
to be sent to king Charles, as he said, for 
Tribute." About this time the Indians re- 
ported to Sir William Berkley, "that within 
five days journey to the Westward and by 
South, there is a high mountaine and at foot 
1 hereof great Rivers, that run into a great 
sea ; and that there are men that come hither 
in ships (but not the saute as ours be) they 
weave apparrell and have red caps on their 
heads and ride on Beasts like our Horses, 
but have much longer ears." These were 
probably the Spaniards. Sir William Berk- 
lev now prepared to make .'111 exploration 
with fifty horse and as many foot, t but he 
was disappointed in this enterprise. 

At this period the settlement of all the 
New England States had been commenced. 
The Dutch possessed the present States of 
New York, New Jersey and part of Connec- 
ticut and they had already pushed their set- 
tlements above Albany. The Swedes occu- 
pied the shores of Pennsylvania and Dela- 
ware. Maryland was still in her infancy. 
Virginia was prosperous. The country now 
known a- the Carolinas, belonged to the as- 
signees of Sir Robert Heath, but as yel no 
advances had been made toward- the occu- 
pation of it. { 

[1648. J Upon complaint of the necessi- 
ty - of the people, occasioned by barren and 
over-wrought land and want of range for cat- 
tle and hogs, permission was granted to re- 
move during the following year to the north 
side of Charles (York) and Rappahannock 
rivers. § 

[30th of January, 1649,] King Charles 1. 
u as beheaded. The commonwealth of Eng- 
land now continued till the restoration of 
Charles 1 1.. [1660. J Upon the dissolution 
of the monarchy there were not wanting 
those in Virginia, who held (hat the colonial 



* Hening, vol. 1, p. 353. 

+ Hening, vol. 1, p. :J.">.'!. 

1 Martin's lli-t. V (' . vol. 1, p. 105-6. 

y •' A New Description of Virginia," Force, vol. 2. 



64 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XX. 



government being- derived from the crown, 
was now extinct. But the assembly, by an 
act of October 1649, made it penal to main- 
tain that opinion. The principle, however, 
was afterwards expressly recognized at the 
surrender of the colony to Cromwell's fleet 
[1651.] 

An assembly met at Jamestown [October, 
1649,] about eight months alter the execution 
of Charles I. The first act amply attests its 
loyalty ; it expresses the profoundest venera- 
tion for the deceased king ; denounces all 
aspersions upon his memory as treasonable; 
declares it treason to doubt the right of 
prince Charles to succeed to the crown, or 
to propose a change of government in the 
colony, or to doubt the authority of the gov- 
ernor or government. * 

[1649.] There were in Virginia, at this 
period, 15,000 English, and " of Negroes, 
brought thither, three hundred good ser- 
vants." The number of cattle was estima- 
ted at 20,000, of horses 200, asses 50, sheep 
3,000, goats 5,000. Swine, tame and wild, 
were innumerable. There were " six pub- 
like Brewhouses and most brew their own 
beer strong and good." Fish, fowl, venison, 
and vegetables were abundant. Indian corn 
yielded five hundred fold. Bees, wild and 
domestic, produced plenty of honey and 
wax. The culture of Indigo and hemp and 
flax, &c, was commenced. So much tobac- 
co was raised, that the price was only 3 pence 
per pound. There were 4 wind-mills, 5 wa- 
ter-mills, besides horse-mills aad hand-mills. 
No saw-mill had yet been erected. There 
came yearly to trade, 30 vessels, navigated 
with S00 seamen. They brought cargoes of 
cotton and woollen goods, shoes, stockings, 
&c. Many of the masters of these vessels 
and chief mariners, had plantations in the 
colony. The vessels cleared in March, car- 
rying out tobacco, staves and lumber. Pin- 
naces, barges and boats were numerous. A 
thousand colonists wi'i-c seated " upon the 
Acamake] shore, by Cape Charles, (where 
Captaine Yeardly is chief commander,) now 
called the county of Northampton." Bricks 
were now made in Virginia. "Since the 
massacre the Savages have been driven far 



* Hening, vol. I, 358 in note and 359, 

t The name of Aecomao was changed [1643] to North- 
ampton, but the original name was afterwards restored. 
1 Hening, 249-224. 



away, many destroyed of them, their towns 
and houses ruinated, their cleer grounds pos- 
sessed by the English to sow wheat in; and 
their great king Opechankenow (that bloody 
monster upon 100 years old,) was taken by 
Sir William Berkely the Governour." "They 
have 20 Churches in Virginia and Ministers 
to each and the Doctrine and Orders after 
the Church of England: the Ministers' Liv- 
ings are esteemed worth at least 100/. per 
annum." * \ . 



CHAPTER XX. 
1650—1659. 

Puritans in Virginia; Col. Norwood's Voyage to Virginia ; 
Despatched to Holland by Sir William Berkley; The 
Long Parliament prohibits trade and correspondence 
with Virginia ; Cnpt. Dennis with a small fleet demands 
the surrender of the Colony ; Sir William Berkley pre- 
pares for resistance, Is constrained to yield ; Articles of 
Capitulation; Berkeley goes into retirement, Provis- 
ional Government established ; Richard Bennet ap- 
pointed Governor; Miscellaneous Affairs. 

The assembly of dissenters collected by 
the three missionaries from Massachusetts 
amounted in 1648 to one hundred and eigh- 
teen members. They met with the continu- 
al opposition of the government. Mr. Du- 
rand, their elder, had already been banished 
by the Governor, and in this year their pas- 
tor, named Harrison, being ordered to de- 
part from the colony, retired to New Eng- 
land. On his arrival there he represented 
that many of the council were favorably dis- 
posed towards the introduction of Puritan- 
ism and " one thousand of the people by 
conjecture" were of a similar mind, t 

" It is to be understood that in the time of 
the late king, Virginia being whol for mon- 
archy and the last country belonging to Eng- 
land, that submitted to obedience of the 



* " A New Description of Virginia," pp. 1-8. Force's 
Mist. Tracts, vol. '2. 

\ Hawks, 57, citing 2 Savages. Winthrop 334. Dr. 
Hawks by italicising the words " by conjecture," signifies a 
doubt of the estimate. But when the prevalence of Puri- 
tanism in the mother country is recollected and the nu- 
merous ties which connected it with the colony and the 
influential correspondence between them, the wonder is 
rather that there should have been so few as a thousand 
" favorably disposed" towards Puritanism and not that there 
were so many as that number. 



1649-59.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



65 



Common-wealth of England. And there 
was in Virginia a certaine people congrega- 
ted into a Church calling themselves Inde- 
pendents, which daily increasing, several 
consultations were held by the state of that 
Coloney how to suppresse and extinguish 
them, which was daily put in execution; 
as first, their pastor was banished, next their 
other teachers, then many by informations 
clapt up in prison, then generally disarmed, 
(which was very harsh in such a country, 
where the heathen live round about them,) 
by one Colonel Samuel Matthews, then a 
Counsellor in Virginia, and since Agent for 
Virginia to the then parliament — and lastly 
in a condition of banishment, so that they 
knew not in those streights how to dispose 
of themselves." i A number of these dis- 
senters having gained the consent of Lord 
Baltimore and hi.- governor of Maryland, re- 
tired to Maryland ami settled there. Among 
these one of the principal was Richard Ben- 
net, a merchant and Roundhead. For a 
time these refugees prospered in their affairs 
and remained apparently content with their 
new place of abode, and others induced by 
their example likewise removed there. 

[1648.] Colonel Norwood, a loyal refugee 
in Holland, formed a scheme with two com- 
rades, Morrison and Fox, cavalier majors, to 
seek their fortunes in Virginia. [August, 
They accordingly met in London 
for the purpose of embarking. When they 
had first agreed upon their [dan, Charles I. 
was a prisoner at Carisbrook Castle, in the 
Isle of Wight, lie had since been execu- 
ted : the royalists saw their last embers of 
hope extinguished, and Norwood and his 
friends were eager to escape from the scene 
of their disaster.--. At the Royal Exchange, 
these three forlorn cavaliers engaged a pas- 
to Virginia, in ''The Virginia Mer- 
chant, burthen three hundred tons, of force 
thirt) guns or more." The charge for the 
re was "six pounds a head" for them- 
selves and servants. They broughl out some 
good.- for the purpose of mercantile adven- 
ture. [September 23, KJi'l.J They embark- 
ed in '-'flie Virginia Merchant," having on 
board "three hundred and thirty souls.'' 
Touching at Fyal, Col. Norwood and his 

* I, c;ili am! Rachel, by John Hammond, in Forces' Hist 
Tracts, vol. '■'■■ This John Hammond will appear again 
on a subsequent page. 



companions met with a Portuguese Lady "of 
great note" with her family, returning in an 
English ship, " The John," from the Brazils 
to her own country. With her they drank 
the healths of their kings amidst " thunder- 
ing peals of cannon." The English gentle- 
men discovered a striking resemblance be- 
tween the lady's son and their own prince 
Charles, which filled them with fond admira- 
tion and flattered the vanity of the beautiful 
Portuguese. Passing within view of the 
charming Bermuda, " The Virginia Mer- 
chant" sailing for Virginia struck upon a 
breaker, [November 8,] near Cape Hatteras. 
Narrowly escaping from that peril, she was 
overtaken by a storm and tossed by " moun- 
tainous towring north-west seas." Amid 
the honors of the evening scene, Norwood 
observed innumerable ill-omened porpoises, 
that "seemed to cover the surface of the 
sea, as far as our eyes could discern. - ' The 
vessel at length losing fore-castle and main- 
mast became a hulk, drilling at the mercy of 
the elements. Some were swept overboard by 
the billows that broke over her; the rest suffer- 
ed the tortures of terror and famine. At last 
the storm subsiding, the vessel drifted near the 
coast of the Eastern shore. Here Norwood 
and a party landing on an island were aban- 
doned by the ship. After enduring the ex- 
tremities of cold and hunger, of which some 
died, Norwood and the survivors in the midst 
of the -now, were rescued by a party of 
friendly Indians. In the meantime "The 
Virginia Merchant" Inning arrived in the 
James river, a messenger was despatched by 
Governor Berkley in quest of Norwood and 
his party. Conducted to the nearest planta- 
tions of the Virginians, they were every 
where entertained with the utmost kindness. 
Stephen Charlton, " a planter, " would al.-o 
oblige" Colonel Norwood to put on " a good 
farmer-like suit of his own wearing cloaths." 
After visiting Captain Yeardley, (son of Sir 
George, the former Governor,) the principal 
person in that quarter of the colony, Norw ood 
crossed the bay in a sloop and landed at 
" esquire Ludlow's plantation" on York 
river and next repaired to the neighboring 
plantation of Captain Wormley, t " of his 
majesty'.- council," where he found some of 

* Burgess from Northampton in 1652. Hening l,p. 275. 
f Ralph Wormley, Burjcss for York at thai time, 
ng 1,359. 



66 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XX. 



his friends, recently arrived from England, 
"feasting and carousing*" The guests were 
" Sir Thomas Lundsford, Sir Henry Chickly, 
[Chicheley,] Sir Philip Honywood and Colo- 
nel Hammond." At Jamestown Norwood 
was cordially welcomed by his relative the 
Governor, Sir William Berkley, who took 
him to his house at Greenspring, where he 
remained for some months. Sir William 
Berkley " on many occasions shew'd great 
respect to all the royal party, who made that 
colony their refuge. His house and purse 
were open to all that were so qualify'd. To 
one of my comrades, (major Fox,) who had 
no friend at all to subsist on, he shewed a 
generosity that was like himself; and to 
my other, (major Morrison,) he was more 
kind, for he did not only place him in the 
command of the fort, * which was profitable 
to him while it held under the king, but did 
advance him after to the government of the 
country wherein he got a competent es- 
tate." t 

[May, 165'0.] " The governor," (says Nor- 
wood,) " sent me for Holland, to find out the 
king and to sollicite his majesty for the 
Treasurer's place of Virginia, which the 
Governor took to be void by the delinquency 
of Claybourne, who had long enjoyed it. 
He furnished me with a sum of money, to 
bear the charge of this sollicitation ; which 
took effect, tho' the king was then in Scot- 
land." | 

Bennet and the other dissenting Virgin- 
ians, who had settled in Maryland were not 
long there before they became dissatisfied 
with the Proprietary government. The au- 
thority of Papists was irksome to Puritans 
and they began to avow their aversion to the 
oath of fidelity, which the Proprietary gov- 
ernment imposed upon them, lor by the 
terms of-it, Lord Baltimore affected to usurp 
almost royal authority, claiming the obsolete 
privileges of the ancient County-Palatines of 
.Durham, concluding his commissions and 
writs with " We, us, and Given under our 
hand and greater seal of Arms in such a 
yeer of our Dominion." The protestants oi 
Maryland, especially the Puritans, saw in 
the political complexion of the Common- 

* Point Comfort. 

+ Col. Francis Morrison became Governor in 1661, and 
held the office about IS months. 

X Force's Hist. Tracts, vol. 3. Churchill's Voyages, 



wealth of England a fair prospect of the 
speedy subversion of Baltimore's power. 
Nor were they disappointed in this hope. 

(October, 1650. J The Long Parliament 
passed an ordinance " for prohibiting trade 
with Barbadoes, Virginia, Bermuda and An- 
tcgo." This act recited that these colonies 
were and of right ought to be subject to the 
authority of parliament, that " divers acts of 
rebellion" had "been committed by many 
ns inhabiting Virginia, whereby they 
have most traitorously usurped a power of 
government and set up themselves in oppo- 
sition to this commonwealth." It therefore 
declared such persons " notorious robbers 
and traitor.-," forbade all correspondence or 
commerce with them and appointed com- 
missioners and despatched Sir George Ays- 
cue with a powerful ficet and army to re- 
duce Barbadoes, Bermuda and Antigua to 
submission. 

[September 26, 1651.] The council of State 
oi' whom Bradshaw was President, issued in- 
structions for " Captain Robert Dennis, Mr. 
Richard Bennet, Mr. Tho Steg * and Capt. 
William Claiborn, appointed Commissioners 
for the reducement of Virginia and the in- 
habitants thereof to their due obedience to 
the Commonwealth of England." A fleet 
was put under command of Captain Dennis. 
The commissioners embarked in the Guinea 
Frigate. They were empowered " to assure 
pardon and indemnity to all the Inhabitants 
of the said Plantations, that shall submit unto 
the present Government and Authority as it 
is established in this Commonwealth." "And 
in case they shall not submit by fair wayes 
and means, you are to use all acts of hostili- 
ty that lies in your power, to enforce them 
and if you shall find the people so to stand 
out as that you can by no other wayes or 
meanes reduce them to their due obedience, 
you or any two or more of you, whereof capt. 
Rob. Dennis to be one, have power to appoint 
captains and other officers and to raise for- 
ces within every of the plantations aforesaid 
for the furtherance and good of the service 
and such persons as shall come in unto you 
and s Tve as soldiers, if their masters shal 
stand in opposition to the present Govern- 
ment of this Commonwealth, you or any two 
or more of you, capt. Rob. Dennis to be one, 

* A " Mr. Thomas Siagg" was a resident planter of Vir- 
ginia in 1652. Sei 1. Hening, p. 375. 



1649-59.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



67 



have hereby power to discharge and sel free 
from their masters* all such persons so ser- 
ving as souldiers. In case of the death or 
absence of Capt. Dennis. Capt. Edmund 
Curtis, " commander of the Guinny Frigot" 
was to take his place, f 

[March, 1652,] Captain Dennis arrived at 
Jamestown and demanded a surrender of the 
colony. Sir William Berkley, with the hope 
of repelling them or of commanding better 
terms, prepared for a gallant resistance and 
undertook to strengthen himself, by making 
use of several Dutch ships, I which happened 
to be there engaged in a contraband trade, 
and which he hired for the occasion. There 
chanced however to be on board of the' Par- 
liament's fleet some goods belonging to two 
members of the Virginia Council. Dennis 
sent them word that their goods should be 
forfeited if the colony was not immediately 
surrendered. The threat kindled dissensions 
in the council, and the governor found him- 
self constrained to yield on condition of a 
general amnesty. § The capitulation was 
ratified [12th of March, 1652.] || It was 
a freed that the colony should be subject to 
the Commonwealth of England; that the 
submission should be considered voluntary, 
-'• not forced nor constrained by a conquest 
ypon the countrey, and that they shall have 
and enjoy such freedomes and priviled; 
belongto the free borne people of Engl 
the assembly to meet as formerly and I 
act the affairs of the colony, nothing how- 
ever to be "done contrarie to the govern- 
ment of the Commonwealth of England;" 
full indemnity granted for all offences against 
the parliament of England ; Virginia to 
" have and enioy the antient bounds and 
lymitts granted by the charters of the former 
kings and that we shall seek a new charter 
from the parliament to that purpose, against 
anythathave intrencht vpon the rights there- 



* The population of the colony in 1649 was estimated 
at " about fifieene thousand English and ol \. groes brought 
three hundred good servants." "A Perfect Description »l 
Vii mi. 1,1." 2 i 

t "Virginia and Maryland,*' p. 18-20, Force's In*;. 
Tracts, vol. 2. 

t Martin's History of N. (',, vol. 1, p L10. Martin 
makes the number of ships seven ; upon what ml 
know not. One ship only was confiscated. — See 1 Hon 

§ Beverley, B. 1, p. 54. Keith, p. 147. Chalmers' An- 
nals, p. 123. 

II (1651,) Old style but nronerly 1652. 



of;"* "thai the priviledge of haveing ffiftie 
acres of land for every person transported in 
the collony, shall continue as formerly grant- 
ed;" "that the people of Virginia shall have 
free trade as the people of England do en- 
joy to all places and with all nations, accord- 

the lawes of that Commonwealth and 
that Virginia shall enjoy all priviledges equall 
with any English plantations in America;" 
Virginia to " be free from all taxes, customes 
and impositions whatsoever ami none to be 
imposed on them without, consent of the 
Grand Assembly, and soe that neither ffortes 
nor castles, bee erected, or garrisons main- 
tained without their consent;" no charge to 
be made upon Virginia on account of " this 
present flleet;" the engagement or oath of 
allegiance to the government of the Com- 
monwealth, to be tendered to all the inhabi- 
tants of Virginia; recusants to have " a yeare's 
time to remove themselves and their estates 
out of Virginia and in the mean time during 
the said yeare to have equall justice as for- 
merly;" the use of the book of common 
prayer to be permitted for one year, with the 
consent of a majority of the parish, " Provi- 
ded that those things which relate to king- 
shipp or that government, be not vsed pub- 
liquely, and ministers to be continued in their 
places," 'they nol misdemeaning themselves;' 
public ammunition, powder and arms to be 

up, security being given to make satis- 

i for them; rood.- already ''brought 
hither by the Dutch, to remain unmolested; 
the quit-rents " granted vnto vs by the late 
kinge for seaven yeares," to "bee confirm- 
ed;" the parliamentary commissioners " cn- 
o-age themselves and the honour of the par- 
liament for the full performance" of the arti- 
cles; the Governor and Council and Bur- 

. making the same pledge for the col- 
lony. t 

On the same day, | March 12th, ] some other 
artich s were ratified by the Commissioners 
and the Governor and Council of State. These 
artich s exempted the Governor and Council 
from taking the oath of allegiance, for a year 
and provided that they should not "be cen- 
sured Tor praying for or speaking well of the 
;i one v, hole yeare, in their private 
i r it i rhbouring conference ;" Sir 



" This alludes to Lord Buliimore's intrusion into Mary- 

|l:,nr'. 

t I Hening, p. 363 



68 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XX. 



William Berkley was permitted to send an Lord Baltimore. In the ensuing July the 



agent " to give an accompt to his Ma'tie of 
the surrender of the countrey ;" Sir William 
and the council were allowed to dispose of 
their estates and transport themselves " whe- 
ther they please." Protection of his estates 
and liberty were guaranteed to Sir William 
Berkley. The Captain of the " fforte" was 
allowed satisfaction for the building of his 
house " in fforte Island. *" 

A general amnesty was granted to all the 
inhabitants. In case Sir William or his Coun- 
cillors should " goe for London, or other 
place in England, that they or anie of them 
shall bee free from any trouble or hindrance 
of arrests, or such like in England, and that 
they may follow their occasions, for the space 
of six monthes, after their arrivall." t 

It would seem that s.ome important articles 
of surrender were not ratified by the Long 
Parliament. The 4th was "that Virginia 
shall have and enjoy the antient bounds and 
lymitts granted by the charters of the former 
kings, and that we shall seek a new charter 
from the Parliament to that purpose against 
any that intrencht against the rights thereof." 
This article was referred [August 1652,] to 
the committee of the Navy to consider what 
patent was fit to be granted to the inhabi- 
tants of Virginia. The 7th article was 
" That the people of Virginia have free trade 
as the people of England do enjoy to all 
places and with all nations according to the 
lawes of that commonwealth, and that Vir- 
ginia shall enjoy all priviledges equal! with 
any English plantations in America. The 
latter clause was referred to the same com- 
mittee. The 8th article was, "That Virginia 
shall be free from all taxes, customes and im- 
positions whatsoever and none to be imposed 
on them without consent of the Grand As- , 

I 1 1M . I I ill"! S, \ i "[. ... .V, i , 

sembly, and soe that neither ffortes nor cas- 1 ches have brought to light 
ties bee erected or garrisons maintained, 
without their consent.'' This was also refer- 
red to the Navy committee, together with 
several papers relative to the disputes be- 
tween Virginia and Maryland, &c. The com- 
mittee made a report, | December 31st, 1652.] 
which however seems wholly confined to the 
question of boundary and the contest with 



Long Parliament was dissolved. * 

The articles of capitulation were subscribed 
by Richard Bennet, William Clayborne and 
Edmund Curtis, commissioners in behalf of 
the parliament. Bennet, a merchant, and 
Roundhead, driven from Virginia by the in- 
tolerance of Sir William Berkley's admin- 
istration, had taken refuge in Maryland. 
Having gone out thence to England, his pu- 
ritanical principle.'^ and knowledge of the 
colonies of Virginia and Maryland had re- 
commended him for the place of commis- 
sioner. Clayborne, too, who had former- 
ly been obliged to fly to England, and whose 
olfice of treasurer of Virginia, Sir William 
Berkley had held to be forfeited by delin- 
quency and which the fugitive Charles bad 
bestowed on Colonel Norwood — this impet- 
uous and indomitable Clayborne was another 
of the commissioners, sent to reduce the 
colonies within the Chesapeake bay. A new 
era was now opened in these two colonies 
ami the prominent parts which Bennet and 
Clayborne were destined to perform in this 
novel scene, exhibit a signal example of the 
vicissitudes of human fortune. 



CHAPTER XXI. 
U .15 2— 1660. 



Do 



ml Clayborne reduce Maryland under Crom- 
well's authority; Cromwell's Letter; Digges elected 
Governor; Bennet returns to England, the Colony's 
Agent; Col. Edward Mill defeated by the Ricahecrians; 
Totopotomoi with greater part of his warriors shun ; All 
Freemen allowed to vote ; Samuel Matthews chosen Gov- 



* The Captain of the fori was Major Fox, the comrade 
of Norwood ; the fort was at Point Comfort 
t Heiinig, vol. 1, p 365-367. 



r irginia and Maryland," note to p. 20, in Force's 

Force whose laborious resear- 

such a magazine ol curious and 

instructive historical materials, appears to have been the 

first to draw attention to tl non-ratification" of these 

artii les. He is however not quite accurate in saj ing, that 
'• the fourth, seventh and eighth were not confirmed," for 
the itli granting free trade, was in the main substance con- 
firmed, onl) the latter clause which was pleonastick and of 
minor consequence was not ratified. The omission of all 
notice ol the lattei clause of the 7th and <*( the 8th article, 
in the commit lee's report, is un teeountable. 

Mi Force says " Three of the articles," " urn. not con- 
finned" and therefore did nol receive " the last formal and 
final and definitive ratification." which Burk (2.92) sup- 
poses thej did." Burk howevi r hi re referred only to the 
ratification by the parties at Jamestown and had no refer- 
ence i" tin 1 ult< riot confirmation by the Commonwealth .>'. 
England. 



165-2-60.] 



HISTORY OF VIIU; IX I A. 



69 



ernor; Digges sent out us colleague of Bennet; Mat- 
thews orders a dissolution of the Assembly. The As- 
sembly resists ; Former elections ol Governor a 
point men ts o I Councillors annulled ; Matthews re-elect- 
ed ; Appointed agent conjointly with Bennet and Diggi s . 
Death of Oliver Cromwell ; Succeeded by his son Rich- 
ard ; The governmenl of Virginia under the Common- 
wealth of England. 

Shortly after the surrender of " the An- 
cient Dominion of Virginia," Bennet and 
Clayborne, Commissioners, embarking in the 
Guinea frigate, proceeded with that ship 
alone, to reduce Maryland. After effecting 
a reduction of the province, the Commis- 
sioners, with singular moderation, agreed to 
a compromise with those who held the pro- 
prietary government under Lord Baltimore. 
Stone the Governor and the Council, (part 
papists, none well affected to the Common- 
wealth of England,) werr allowed, (until 
further instructions should he received,) to 
hold their places on condition of issuing 
writs " in the Name of the Keepers of the 
Liberty of England." 

Sir William Berkley, upon the surrender 
of the colony, betook himself into retire- 
ment, in Virginia, where he remained free 
from every molestation and his house con- 
tinued to be a hospitable place of resort for 
refugee cm aliers. 

[April 30th, 1652.] Bonnet and Clay- 
borne, Commissioners, together with the 
Burgesses of Virginia, organized a Provis- 
ional Government, subjeel to the control oi 
the Commonwealth oi' England. Richard 
Bennet, a Roundhead, was made Governor, 
and William Clayborne Secretary of St: 
the colony, t The council appointed, con- 
sisted of " Capt. John West, Coll. Sam. 
Matthews, Coll. Nathaniel Littleton, Coll. 
Argall Yeamley, Coil. Tho. Pettus, Coll. 
Hump. Higginson, Coll. George Ludlow, 
Col. Wm. Barnett, Capt. Bri eman, 

<';ip;. Tho. Harwood, Major Wm. Taylor, 
Capt. ffrancis Eppes and Liev'tt Coll. John 
man.'' The Governor, Secretary and 
Council ■• are to have such power an 1 au- 
thorities am! lo act from time to time, as by 
tin' Grand Asse appoint! 

granted." t 

'flu- governor and councillors were allow- 



* Virginia and ' 
Tracts, vol 2. CI 
t 1 Hening, p. 371. 
X Idem, p. 372. 



11m:. 



ed to 1, mbly. 

VTaj 5th, 1652.] The assembly claimh 
right lo appoint all officers for the colony, 
yet for the present in token of their confi- 
dence in the commissioners, ill the 
appointments not already made to the 
ernor and them. ' Ami ihis urn was re- 
newed in the next year. The oath admin- 
l to the burgesses was ; — " you shall 
to act as a burgess for the place you 
serve for in this assembly, wiih the best of 
your judgment and advice for (lie general 
goo !, not mingling wiih it. any particular or 
private interest." At. the commencement of 
: ssion of November, 1652, Mr. John 
Hammond returned a Burgess from the 
hie oi' Wight, was expelled from the as- 
sembly, as being " notorious!} knowne a 
scandalous person and a frequent distur- 
ber of the peace of the country, by libell 
and other illegall practices." Hammond, 
who had passed ninetei n years in Virginia, 
:d to Maryland, t He was the 
aumor of (he pamphlel " Leah and Rachel." 
At the same lime wiih Hammond, the As- 
sembly expelled James Pyland, another Bur- 
gess of the Isle of Wight, and it was order- 
ed "thai he • tand comitted to answer such 
things as shall be objected against him, as 
an abettor of Mr. Thomas Woodward, in his 
mutinous and rebellious declaration. And 
concerning Ids the said Mr. Pyland blasphe- 
mous catechisme." I 

[1653.] There were now fourteen coun- 

0, Charles ( !ity, 
lun Isle of Wight, Nanse- 
mond, 

York, Northampton, Noil lumberland, 
■ ester and Lanca - 1< r. § The muni 



t Idem, p. 

S S 1 Hening, p. 37-1. 

* Idem, p 

' iy, Henrico. Ch irli s Citj . Elizabeth City, 
'.\ ai ■■ iek River, V. - ■ , < 'ha lies River, ai 

led in IG34. I 
' -. . ■■ d to 1 

19. Tho 
ii. mi I ( 'ii.n'i. s Ri< 

.... , rin 

ries of I 'ppor and ! . mi i \ ; '. :', w ■ , 
: . I r Norfolk i 

— Id. p. 321 leiland 

first iiirni il, 1G15 Id |> ::.i». 

1.331 

ii w I. mi first 1 
r part of York coui I) Id. p. 3 . . Raj pahannock 
formed from upper part cl Lancaster, Ll >G- Id. p. 12" 



70 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXI. 



Burgesses in this year was 34. Upon the 
meeting of the Assembly, [July, 5th,] some 
difference occurred between the Governor 
and the House, relative to the election of 
Speaker. The affair, however, was compro- 
mised, and Bennet seems to have enjoyed 
the confidence of the Virginians. Several 
malecontents were punished for speaking 
contemptuously of the Provisional Govern- 
ment and for refusing to pay the " castle du- 
ties." * 

Owing to the war between Holland and 
the Protector, Sir William Berkley had not 
yet been able to depart from Virginia, in 
conformity with the Convention of 1651, 
and he therefore now became subject to ar- 
rest. But the Assembly passed an act sta- 
ting, " that as the war between England and 
Holland had prevented the confirmation of 
the Convention of 1651 in England, or the 
coming of a ship out of Holland and the said 
Sir William Berkeley desires a longer time, 
viz : — eight months from the date hereof, to 
procure a ship out of Flanders, in respect 
of the war with Holland and that he be cus- 
tom free for such tobacco as he shall lade in 
her; — it is condescended, that his said re- 
quest shall be granted." t Some seditious 
disturbances having taken place in North- 
ampton, on the Eastern Shore, it was found 
necessary for the Governor and the Secre- 
tary, with a party of gentlemen, to repair 
thither for the purpose of restoring order. 
Edmund Scarborough was a rinp--leader in 
these disorders. 

l\i this year land was granted to Roger 
-Green and others, living in Nansemond 
county, for exploring and settling the coun- 
try bordering on the Moratuck or Roanoke } 
and Chowan rivers. In the preceding \ ear. 
Col. William Clayborne and Capt. Henry 
Fleet were authorized to make discoveries to 
the South and West. § " Diverse gentle- 
men" wvn-, [1653,] permitted to "discover 
the Mountains." || 

At the meeting of the assembly, [1654,] 



■" 1 Hening, p 379. I'.n.k 2, p. 95-SG. 

f Burk 2, p. 99-100. Ilr a I. p 3 I 

X Tins River was called Moraiiiek or MoratoeU above 
the falls, Roanoke !>i low. Roanoke signified "sin II ;" 
Roanoke and Wampum-peal i wi n ti nns lor Indian shell- 

,'lll'llr\ . 

$ 1 Hening, p. 377. 

II Idem, p. 381. 



William Hatcher, being convicted of having 
called Colonel Edward Hill, speaker of the 
House, " an atheist and blasphemer," was 
compelled to make acknowledgment of his 
offence upon his knees, before Colonel Hill 
and the assembly. This Hatcher appears to 
have been a burgess of Henrico in 1652. * 
More than twenty years afterwards, in his old 
age, he was fined eight thousand pounds of 
pork, for the use of the king's soldiers, on 
account of mutinous words uttered shortly 
after Bacon's rebellion, t 

[April 20th, 1653.] Cromwell dissolved 
the Long Parliament, and on the 16th of De- 
cember in the same year became " Lord 
Protector of the Commonwealth of Eng- 
land, Scotland and Ireland." 

In the meantime, Stone, (who since June 
28th, 1652, had continued in the place of 
Governor of Maryland,) in consonance with 
the instructions of Lord Baltimore, violated 
the terms of the compromise arranged with 
Bennet and Clayborne, in behalf of the 
Parliament. These commissioners address- 
ed a letter to Stone proposing an interview. 
He made a rude reply and indulged in this 
expression, " We in plain terms say we sup- 
pose you to be Wolves in Sheep's clothing." 
Bennet and Clayborne, now "by authority 
derived from his Highness the Lord Protec- 
tor," siezed the government of the province 
and intrusted it to a board of ten Commis- 
sioners, t When Lord Baltimore received 
intelligence of if, he wrote, [Nov., 1654,] 
lo Stone reproaching him with cowardice 
and peremptorily commanded him to recov- 
er the colony by force of arms. "Stone 
and all Maryland fall to arms and disarm and 
plunder those that would not accept the 
aforesaid oath" of allegiance to Baltimore. 
Maryland contained many emigrants from 
\ irginia of Puritan principles. These dwelt 
mainly on the banks of the Severn and the 
Patuxent and on the Isle of Kent. They 
were disaffected to the Proprietary govern- 
ment and protested that they had removed to 
Maryland, under t|| ( . express engagement of 
Stone, that they should be exempt from the 
obnoxious oath. Part of the recusants now 
took up anus and civil war desolated the in- 



■ 1 1, iiiii", x ol. 1 , p. 3G9. 
t Hening, \ ol. '.', p. 551. 
\ " Virginia and Maryland," Force's Hist. Tracts, vol. 2. 



1652-60.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



71 



fant Maryland. At length, in an action, 
Stono and his people were utterly defeated. 
"There were near double the number in 
Prisoners to the Victors; twenty slain, many 
wounded, and all the place strewed with 
Papist beads where they fled." 

Tims Maryland became subject to the Pro- 
tectorate. 

Among the prisoners was the Governor, 
Stone, who had been " shot in many places." 
Several of the prisoners were condemned to 
death by a court martial. Four of the princi- 
pal, one of them a councillor, were executed 
on the spot. Stone likewise sentenced, owed 
his escape to the intercession " of some wo- 
men" and the interposition of some of Ben- 
net and Clayborne's people, t John Ham- 
mond, (the same that had been two years 
before expelled from the Virginia Assem- 
bly,) one of the condemned, lied in disguise 
and escaped to England in the ship Cres- 
cent, t 

The administration of the Commissioners 
was rigorous. Religious freedom was al- 
lowed by the assembly to all except papists. 
Such were likewise Milton's views of toler- 
ation. § Cromwell soaring higher com- 
manded the commissioners " not to busy 
themselves about religion, but to settle the 
civil government." And remembering Lord 
Baltimore's ready submission to his authori- 
ty, restored him to the command of the 
province. The following letter was written 
by the Protector to curb the violent contest 



* It was the custom of the Maryland Romanists to cel- 
ebrate, .Inly 31st, the anniversary of Si. Ignatius Mary- 
land's patron Saint by a salute of cannon. [1656] On 
August 1st, the day following the anniversary, "certain 
3oldiers, unjust plunderers, Englishmen indeed by birth, of 
the heterodox faith," aroused by the nocturnal report oi 
the cannon, issued from theit fori 5 miles distant, rushed 
upon the habitations of the Papists, broke into them and 
plundered whatever there was there >il arms or powder 
While's Relation. Force, vol. 1. 

+ "Leah and Rachel." Force's Mist. Tracts, vol. 3. 
Chalmers 1 Political Annals, p. 222. 

f The Master of this vessel was " amersed" "in deep 
penalties by the Virginia Assembly, for canning off Ham 
mond, without a pass." I. rah and Rachi I, p. 29. Force's 
Hist. Tracts, vol. '■'•. "I! ni the conditions being treachi rous 
ly violated, fourol the captives and threooflhem Catholics 
were pierced with leaden balls." The Jesuit fathers hotly 
pursued escaped to Virginia, where they inhabited "a 

mean hilt, low anil depreSSI 'I, not much unlike a eistrill 01 

even the tomb m which that great defender of the faith, St, 
Athanasius, lay concealed for many years." White's Re- 
lation. Force, vol. t. 

§ Milton's Prose Works, vol. 2, p. 310. 



of Virginia and Maryland respecting their 

boundary. 

"To the Commissioners of Maryland. 

Whitehall, 26th September, 1655. 

Sirs, 

It seems to us by yours of the 29th of 
June, and by the relation we received by 
Colonel Bennet, that some mistake or scru- 
ple hath arisen concerning the sense of our 
Letters of the 12th of January last — as if by 
our Letters we had intimated that we should 
have a stop put to the proceedings of those 
commissioners who were authorized to set- 
tle the civil government of Maryland. Which 
was not at all intended by us ; nor so much 
as proposed to us by those who made ad- 
dresses to us to obtain our said Letter. But 
our intention, (as our said Letter doth plain- 
ly import,) was only to prevent and forbid 
any force or violence to be offered by either 
of the Plantations of Virginia or Maryland 
from one to the other upon the differences 
concerning their bounds. The said differ- 
ences being then under the consideration of 
Ourself and Council here. Which for your 
more full satisfaction we have thought fit to 
signify to you ; and rest 

your loving friend, 

Oliver P." * 

[March, 30th, 1655.] Edward Digges was 
elected Governor, t He succeeded Bennet 
who had held the office from the 30th of 
April, 1652, and who was now appointed 
the colony's agent at London. [1656.] Six 
or seven hundred Ricahecrian Indians came 
down from the mountains and seated them- 
selves near the falls of James river. Colo- 
nel Edward Hill, the elder, with a body of 
men was ordered to dislodge them. He 
was reinforced by Totopotomoi, J chief of Pa- 
munkey, with one hundred of his tribe. 
Hill was defeated and Totopotomoi with the 
greater pari oi' his warriors slain. § Hill, on 
t 

* Carlyle's Cromwell, rol. '-', p 182. 
f Hening, vol. I, p. I 

{ There is a Creek in Hanover Called Tolopotomoy . 

•'The mighty Tottipotimoy 

Sent to our elders an envoy 

( Jomplaining sorely el the breach 

OI league held forth by brother Patch." 
Hudibras, < U I '■> Thatche, ' raphy, vol. 1. p. I'M. 

A It sci ins not improbable that Bloody Run, neai Rich- 
mond. derived Its name from this battle, instead ol tin' one 
in which Bacon was afterwards engaged, with whi 
dition has connected this rivulet. 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXL 



account of his misconduct in this affair, was 
compelled to pay the cost of the expedition 
and di ' In this year an act was 

passed allowing al! free km n the right of vo- 
ting for bin mid that " it is 
something hard and unagreeable to reason 
that any j 

yet have no votes in elections." t So re- 
publican v I tive franchise in Vir- 
ginia near two centi I [1656.] Col- 
onel Thomas Dew, of ' md county, 
sometime before Speaker of the Housi 
others were authorized to explore the coun- 
try between Cape Hatteras and Cape Fear. 
The county of Nansemond had Ion : b 
edwith non-conformists. J [March 13, 1658,] 
Samuel Matthews was elected Governor in 
the place of Digges, who was sent, out to 
assist Bennet in the agency at London early 
in 1656. Matthews was "an old planter of 
nearly forty years standing," had been a 
member of the council, [1624,] and now "a 
most ' commonwealth's man, kept 

id house, lived bravely and was a true 
lover of Virginia." § The burgesses now 
rescinded the order admitting the governor 
and council as members of their House and 
voted an adjournment. Matthews, on the 
1st of April, declared a dissolution of the 
assembly. The I e resisted il and after 
an oath oi the ml were en- 

! not to betray their trust by submis- 
sion. The Governor yielded, reserving an 
appeal to the Protector. The burgesses now 
voted the governor's answer unsatisfactory 
and he re\ oked the order of d ion, still 

referring tic decision to Cromwell. The 
House now appointed a committee of which 
John Carle;-, <>!' Lanca: ter, w as chief, and 
nia.de a decl n oi' popular sovereignty. 

The forme ' wernor and 

pointments of conn reed to 

be void, and was re-< Ii ;ted and 

invested " with all the just rights and privi- 
beloi ing to the Governour and Cap- 



* Bmk 2, | 

| I! [ling, vol. 1, 

1 Bancroft, vol. 2, p. 131. 

<i Bancroft, vol. I, p. 22 , i Coll. Bnrk, 

vol. 2, p. 112, says " of tin • ctions from this period, 

[1G5G,] to Hie restoration, [1C0O.] lla n is an entire e.liasin 
in the ii cords." Ac oiding lo Hi ning, on the contrary, 

vol. 1, p. ■! .a in note, " in no portion ol ihi e.ol il records 

under t lie c miinonweallh are the niali in Is so copious as 



taine-Generall of Virginia." The Governor 
acquiesced, and took a new oath just pre- 
scribed. The council was organized anew.* 
The legislative records do not develop the 
particular ground on which the previous 
i us of governor and appointments of 
icillors under the provisional govern- 
ment were annulled. From the exclusion 
of the executive functionaries from the House, 
it might be inferred that this annulment was 
grounded upon a jealousy of officers being 
members of the body that elected them. Yet 
this objection could not hold good against 
Bennet, the first of the three Governors, and 
his council, as they had been expressly al- 
lowed, [1652,] to be cx-olhcio members of 
the house of burgesses. 

Matthews, Governor elect, (having been 
re-elected in 1659,) was shortly after com- 
missioned to support the interests of Vir- 
ginia in London conjointly with Bennet and 
Digges. t By a singular coincidence the 
three governors v. ere thus transferred from 
the miniature capital of Virginia and found 
themselves together near the court of " his 
highnesse," the Lord Protector. [March, 
1659.] A letter dated at Whitehall, Septem- 
ber 7th, 1658, was received at Jamestown, 
ed to the governor and council, (al- 
though none appear to have been appointed 
since the departure of Matthews,) announ- 
cing the demise on the 3rd of that month of 
his highness, Oliver Cromwell Lord Pi 
tor of England and the succession of his 
eldest son Richard to the protectorate. The 
letter was subscribed by Henry Lawrence, 
president of the council. Upon its being 
read before the assembly a resolution was 
passed fully recognizing Richard Cromwell 
t and an address sent to " his 
highnesse." So much truth is there in Mr. 
Jefferson's remark, that Virginia, " in the 
conti i with the House of Stuart, only ac- 
companied the footsteps of the mother coun- 
try." | The letter of Lawrence mentioned 
that die late Protector, considering the loose 
and unsettled slate of the government in 
. ia, had been engaged in measures for 

i Bancroft, vol. 1, p. 22G. Hen. vol 1, p. 504-5. 

+ The letters addressed to Cromwell, and to Thurlow, 
Sri p i.m y .a State, togi ihcr with instructions to Matthews 
and Digges ma) be found in Burk, vol. 2, p. 11(1-17. For 
the i< -election oi Matthews si e Hen., vol. I. p. 529. 

j Preface to T. M's account of Bacon's rebellion in 
Kercheval's Hist, of Valley of Va., p. 21 



1660-69.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



73 



re-oro-anizino- if. which had been interrupted signed the protectorate in March, 1660. — 
by his death. The goverrimenl of Virginia, Matthews, governor elect, had died in the 
under the Commonwealth of England, was January previous. England was withoul a 
mild and just. While Cromwell's sceptre monarch; Virginia without a governor. Here 
commanded the respect of the world, he ex- was a two-fold interregnum. The assembly 
hibited crenerous and politic leniency towards convening on the 13th of March, 1660, de- 
the infant and loyal colony. She enjoyed clared by their first act, that as there was 
during this interval free trade, legislative in- then in England " noe resident absolute and 
dependence and internal peace. The gov- generall confessed power," therefore the su- 
ernors were men who by their virtues and preme government of the colony should rest 
moderation won the confidence ;<ud afTec- in the assembly. 

tions of the people. No extravagance, ra- By the second act, Sir William Berkley 
pacity, or extortion, could be alleged against was appointed governor, and it was ordered 
the administration. Intolerance and perse- , that all writs should issue in the name of the 
cution were unknown, with the single ex-^ assembly. The governor was restricted from 
ception of a rigorous act banishing the qua- dissolving the assembly without its consent, 
kers. * But rapine, extravagance, extortion,! No fact in our history has been more mis- 
intolerance and persecution were all soon to understood and misrepresented than this re- 
be reived under the auspices of the Stuart.-, appointment of Sir William Berkley, before 

t! e restoration of Charles II. If we were to 
b lieve the fanciful statements of historians, 
who from age to are have blindly followed 
each other in fabulous tradition, wilful per- 
version, or erroneous conjecture, Sir William 
was hurried from retirement by a torrent of 
popular enthusiasm, made governor by accla- 
Richard Cromwell resigns the Protectorate; Supreme mation, and the standard of Charles II. bold- 
power claimed by the Assembly; Sir William Berkley l.V creeled in the colony several months be- 
elected Governor by the Assembly; Errors of Histori- lore the restoration, and thus the Virginians 
ans on this subject; Circumstances of Berkley's e!ec- as they had been the last of the king's Silb- 
tion; Stuyvesant's Letter; Charles sends a commission j ec ; s u .-j„, renounced their allegiance, so they 
to Berkley from Breda; Berkley's reply; The Church were j] 1( , fi rst vv j, () returned to it! * But as 
in Virginia ; Assembly of LG61 ; Intelligence received oi 
the Restoration of Charles II.; Assemblv sends 



CHAPTER XXII. 

1660—1669. 



has been seen. Sir William was elected, not 
by a tumultuary assemblage of the people, 
but by the assembly ; the royal standard was 
not raised upon the occasion, nor was the 
king proclaimed. Sir William, however, made 
no secret, of his loyalty. He spoke of the 

appointed to superintend the establishment of a Colony date king as, - L my most gracious master, king 



m ad- 
dress to the King; Demonstrations of Loyalty ; Enor- 
mous emoluments of the Governor; Altered tone ol the 
Assembly ; Power ol Taxation vested foi three years in 
the Governor and Council; General An relating to the 
Indians; Miscellaneous affairs; Sir William Berkley 



on the borders or Albemarle Sound ; Batte's Expedi- 
tion across the mountains; Number oi the Indians; 
Greenspring settled on Sir Wm. Berkley. 

r . nm ., _. ,. , ,.. r ~ dec of the Colony, Ik 

[l6o9.J I he tenure oi the office oi Coun- 
cillors was fixed for life and they were to be 
nominated by the Governor and confirmed 
by the Burgesses. Richard Cromwell re- 

* Sir Walter Scott, m the introduction to the second 
series of the " Tales of my Landlord,' - exclaims : " For ' > 
ye powers of logic ! when the pre hit i. sis and the Presbyti i i 
ans of old times went by the ears together in this unlucky 
country, my ancestor (venerated be his memory !) was one 
ol the people called Quakers and suffered severe handling 
on either side, even to the extenuation of his purse and 
the incarceration of his poison." Such was the fortune ol 
the Quakers in Virginia. 



Charles, of ever blessed memory," and as 
•■ my ever honoured Master,"' who " was put 
to a violent death." Alluding to the surren- 
tid, the Parliament 
sent a small power to force my submission 
to them, which finding me defenceless, was 
quietly (God pardon me) effected." Of the 
several parliaments and the protectorate he 
remarked, "And, I believe, Mr. Speaker, you 
think, if my voice had been prevalent, inmost 

• Robertson's History of America, vol. 4, p 230. Bev- 
erley, B. I, p. 55. Chalmers' Annals, p. I'-'i Burk, vol. 
2, p. I20. Si e also II, ■iiiiil'. vol. I, p 526. Heni 
roctcd these errors and Ins conei tion has been indubitably 
confirmed. An enor in history is like sheep jumping ovei 
a bridge. If one goes, the rest all follow. 



10 



74 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXII. 



of their elections, I would not voluntarily 
have made choice ul'tlieni for my Supreames. 
But, Mr. Speaker, all this I have said, is one- 
ly to make this truth apparent to you, that 
in and under all these mutable governments 
of divers natures and constitutions. I have 
lived most resigningly submissive. But, Mr. 
Speaker, it is one dutie to live obedient to a 
government and another of a very difierenl 
nature, to command under it." 

The assembly repeatedly declared, thai, 
there was then " no general! confessed pow- 
er" in England ; in a word, that it was an 
interregnum. The fictions which history 
has recorded on this head, are as idle as the 
tales of oriental romance. ' 

The assembly having proffered the office 
of Governor to Sir William Berkley, he on 
the 19th of March, 1660, made a reply, in 
which he said : — " I doe therefore in the pre- 
sence of God and you, make this sale pro- 
testation for us all, that if any supreame set- 
tled power app< ires, 1 will imediately lay 
down my comission, but will live most .sub- 
missively obedient to any power God shall 
set over me, as the experience of < ight years 
have shewed I have done." t 

Sir William was elected on the 21st of the 
same month, about two months before the 
restoration of Charles 11. Yet the word king, 
or majesty, occurs no where in the [< 
tive records, from the commencement of the 
Commonwealth in England, until the 11th 
of October, lb'o'Q — more than four months 
after the restoration.} Virginia was indeed 
loyal, but she was too feeble to express her 
loyalty. 



* Beverley probably originated iliis tissue of fictions 

Chal rs' ought in have known better, foi he had access to 

the English archives. 

f Southern Literary Messenger for January, 1815, where 
ir iy be found Sii William's curious speech on this 01 ca- 
sion and king Charles the second's commission to him. 
These documents were published by thi i able au- 

licjuai y, Petei Force, Esq. 

"The Councill's Assenl to the choice of Sir William 
Berkley. 

" Wee doe unanimously concur in the election of Wil- 
liam Berkeley to be the pre.si nl Governoiir of this Colon) 
\! n I I ■> GO.] 

Rich. Bennet, Tho. Claiborne, 

W. Bernard, Edw. Hill, 

John Walker, Tho. Dewe, 

Geo. : '> ade, lvl .\ . I larfpi , 

Tho. Pettus, Tho. Swann, 

Au er." 

} Hening, vol. ~>, p. 9, in 



When Argall, in 1U14, * returning from his 
half-piratical excursion against the French, 
at Fort Royal, entered the waters of New 
York, he found three or four huts, erected 
by Dutch mariners and fishermen on the is- 
land of Manhattan. In near a half century 
that had now elapsed, ^\ic colony there had 
grown to an importance that justified diplo- 
matic correspondence. In the Spring of 
16b0, Nicholas Varleth and Brian Newton 
were sent by governor Stuyvesant, from Fort 
Amsterdam to Virginia, for the purpose of 
forming a leagi ; I ov iedgin ■ the Butch 
title to New York. Sir William made an 
artful evasion in the following letter. 

" SlR, — I have received the letter you were 
I to send me by Mr. Mills his vessel, 
and shall be ever ready to comply with you, 
in all acts of neighbourly friendship and 
amity ; but truly sir, you desire me to do that 
concerning your letter and claims to land in 
the Northern part of America, which I am 
incapable to do ; for I am but a servant of 
unl ly'i ; neither do they arrogate any 
power to themselves, farther than the mise- 
rable distractions of England force them to. 
For when God shall be pleased in his mercy 
to take away and dissipate the unnatural cli- 
vi ions of their native country, they will im- 
mediately return to their own professed obe- 
dience. What then they should do in mat- 
ters of conir act, donation and confession of 
right, would have little strength or significa- 
tion; much more presumptive and imperti- 
nent would it be in me to do it without their 
knowledge or assent. We shall very shortly 
meet again, and then if to them you signify 
your desires, 1 shall labour all I can to gel 
you a satisfactory answer. 

J am, sir, your humble servant, 

William Berkley." 
20, 1660. 

Peter Stin vesant, the last of the Dutch 
governors of New Amsterdam, within a few 
years was dispossessed by an English squad- 
ron. This; letter of Sir William Berkley was 
written nearly three months after the resto- 
ration, . i he alludes to the English gov- 
ernment as still in a state of interregnum, 
and writes nol one word i.i recognition of 
; jestj . ( Iharles 11. 

" Stilh, p. 13 ;. Bancroft, vol. I, p. 1 IS, and vol. :. p. 
es this dati 1613. 



1660-69.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



75 



The restored Charles transmitted a new 
commission, dated July 31, 1660, at Westmin- 
ster to his faithful adherent, Berkley. His let- 
ter of acknowledgment written March 18th. 
1661, is full of extravagant loyalty. He apol- 
ogizes for having accepted office from the 
Assembly thus: "if was noe more may it 
please your Majestie, than to leape over the 
fold to save your Maj lock, when your 

Majesties enemies of that fold had barred up 
the lawfull entr; o it. and enclosed the 

Wolves of Si isme and rebellion ready to de- 
vour all within it," . 

[1661.] The settlements of Virginia extend- 
ed from the Potomac to the Chowan, besides 
the isolated Accomac. There were fifty Par- 
ishes. The plantations lay dispersed along die 
banks of rivers and creeks, those on the 
James str< I bove a hundred miles into 

the interior. E Paris] nded many 

miles in length te ri\ er's side, 

breadth ran back only a mile. This was the 
average breadth of the plantations, their 
length varying from half a mile to three miles 
or more. The fifty parisl tnprehending 

an area supposed to be equal to one half of 
England, it was inevitable that many of the 
inhabitants lived very r< mote from the parish 
church. Many parishes indeed as yet were 
destitute of churches and glebes. Not more 
than ten parishes were supplied with minis- 
ters, f Where there were ministers, worship 
was usually held once on Sunday. But the 
remote pari ! iom seldom atti nded. The 
planters, v hether from indifference or from 
the want of means, were negligent in the 
building of churches. "And hence it" was 
"that through the licentious lives of many of 
them the Christian Religion" was "dishon- 
oured and th" Name of God" " blasphemed 
among the Heathen, who" were ■■ mar them 



* See Sir William Bei Mi \ 's : 
the Council's a si nl to his election, the new commission 
and Sir William's answer, published by Peter Force, I'. ;ij., 
in the .Sou. Lit. Messenger for January, I 

t Sonn i wore far from being exemplai y. "The} 

then began to , . ! home for Go.?pi I 

ters and larg \ ■ ulcil lor their mainti nance , I3u! 

1 .in 1 nol handsomely in England very few ol 

iversaiion would ad\ enlure thithci (;is thi 
a place v hi rein sun \ ihe . m ol God ivas not,) vet man) 
cam.', such as wore Bhi . could babble in .1 I'ul- 

pel . . ■ are m a T.n - mers and 

rathei by theirdisso uti 11 >-< destroy than feed 
Leah and Rachel. .> F01 



and oft among them and consequently their 
Conversion hindered." ' 

The general want of schools, likewise ow- 
ing to the sparseness of the population, was 
•■ most of all bewailed of Parents" in Virgi- 
nia. The want of schools was more deplor- 
ed than the want of churches. The children 
of Virginia, naturally "of beautiful and come- 
ons and generally of more ingenious 
spirits than" those " in England," were doom- 
ed to grow up ■• unserviceable for any great 
employments in Church or State." 

As a principal remedy for these ills, the 
establishment of Towns was recommended. 
It was further proposed, to erect schools in 
the colony, and lor the supply of Ministers, 
to establish Virginia Fellowships at Oxford 
and Cambridge, with an engagement to serve 
the Church in Virginia for seven years. A 
further pari of this plan was to send over a 
Bishop, ■■ so soon as there shall be a City for 
his See." These recommendations, however, 
although urged [September 2, 1661,] with 
forcible arguments upon the attention of the 
Bishop of London, seem, from whatever 
cause, to have proved abortive. I 

The assembly of March 23rd, 1661, con- 
sisted in the main of new members. Another 
session was held in October of the same year, 
and ii contained still fewer of the members 
who had held seats during the Common- 
wealth. Intelligence of the restoration of 
Charles 2nd, had already reached Virginia 
and was joyfully received. An address was 
sent to the king, praying a pardon to the in- 
habitants of the country for having yielded 
to a force which they could nol resist! Forty- 
four thousand pounds of tobacco were ap- 
propriated to Major General Hammond and 
Colonel Guy Moles worth, for being "employ- 
ed" "in the address." Sir Henr} Moody 
w as despatched as ambassador "to the Mana- 
dos" (New York.) The assembly strove to 
display its loyalty by bountiful appropriations 
to the governor and the leading royalists. 
The restoration in Engla i ! n as perfectly re- 
flected b) n in Virginia. The 

* Virgin ia's ( 'u i p 6, in 3rd Force. 

+ " Virginia's Cure" (3rd Force ) This pamphlet, print- 
• it I, i, 1GG'2, was drawn up b) a clergyman, whose 

initials, It. G..only are given. From his in tun ite ai cpiain- 
' ince v ith i he condition of Virginia, it is to be inl 
thai he hud resided here. "Virginia's Cure" is written 
with uncommon perspicuity and vi or, and in a spirit of 
earnest 



76 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXII. 



necessity of circumstances had made t hf 
government of the colony republican. For 
a short time Sir William Berkely had been 
identified with this system. He and the new 
assembly were now eagerly running in an 
opposite tack and were impatient to wipe 
away all traces of their late forced disobedi- 
ence and involuntary recognition of the pop- 
ular sovereignty. 

Sir William Berkeley was sent to England, 
agent to defend the colony, against the Vir- 
ginia Company, whir!) was still laboring to 
resume its sway.* He embarked in May, 
1661, and returned in the fall of 1662, f— 
His pay, on account of this embassy, was 
two hundred thousand pounds of tobacco. 
Besides this amount he received sixty thou- 
sand pounds of tobacco for his services 
as governor. The whole of his emol- 
uments thus amounted to the enormous quan- 
tity of .seven hundred and forty-three hogs- 
heads of three hundred and fifty pou 
and worth upwards of nine thousand dollars. 

The assembly's tone was now altered ; du- 
ring the commonwealth, Oliver Cromwell had 
been addressed as "his Highness," and the 
burgesses had subscribed themselves "his 
most humble, most devoted servants." Nor 
had Richard Cromwell been treated with less 
respectful submission. But now the follow- 
ing language was employed : — " Whereas, 
our late surrender and submission to that 
execrable power, that soe bloodyly massacred 
the late king Charles the 1st, of ever blessed 
and glorious memory, hath made us by ac- 
knowledging them, guilty of their crimes, to 
shew our serious and hearty repentance and 
detestation of that barbarous act, Bee it en- 



* While ho was in England, the Assembly sent in him 
a copy of ilif revised Laws in order tli;il he should procure 
their ratification. Hening, vol 2, pp. I til 18. 

t Hening, vol. 2. pp. 7 and IT. Bancroft, vol. 2, p. 197, 
seems to have [misconceived the object "I Sir William's 
mission : " The apprehensions ol \ irginia u. re pa. .is- ni ti 
by the establish nt of the colonial monopoly in the na- 
vigation act, and [he assembly alarmed at [his open viola- 
tiiui of iIm.' natural and prescriptive "freedoms" ol the 
colony, appointed Sir William Berkeley its agent to pre- 
sent the grievances of Virginia and procure theii redress." 
It is true, however, that Sir William, from inleresl or patri- 
otism, or both, was strenuous]) opposed to the commercial 
monopoly. But if Berkley, while Colonial Agent, < x- 
erted himself in opposil to the Naviy ition Act, his ef- 
forts were altogether fruitless, Grahame, vol I, n 95, 
says that Virginia " warml) rem mst rated" n& si the \el 

t The average weight ol a Hogshead ol Tobacco at this 
peii id, was about 350 pounds. Hening, vol, 1, p, 135, 



acted that the 30th of January, the day the 
said king was beheaded, be annually solem- 
nized with fasting and prayers, that our sor- 
rowes may expiate our crime and our teares 
wash away our guilt." * 

The pdace of Berkeley was filled during 
his absence by Colonel Francis Morrison, 
elected Governor and Captain General by the 
Council. 

The 29th of May, the birth-day of Charles 
II., was made an anniversary holiday. The 
navigation act was now in full force in Vir- 
ginia. The price of tobacco fell very low, 
while the cost of imported goods was en- 
hanced. I An act prohibiting the importa- 
tion of luxuries seems to have been negati- 
ved by the governor. \ It was ordered that 
" no person hereafter shall trade with the 
Indians, for any bever, otter or any other 
furies, unlesse he first obteine a commission 
from the governour." This act gave great 
offence to the people. It was in effect an 
indirect monopoly of the fur trade. By a 
still more high-handed measure, the gover- 
nor and council were empowered to lay tax- 
es for three years, unless in the mean time 
some urgenl occasion should necessitate the 
calling together of the assembly. Thus the 
power of taxation, the main safeguard of 
freedom, was given to the executive. Major 
John Bond, a magistrate, was disfranchised 
" for factious and schismaticall demeanors. "§ 
independent spirit, however, gleamed 
in a resolution, declaring that the king's par- 
don did not extend to a penalty for planting 
tobacco contrary to law. || An act making 
provision for a college, seems to have remain- 
ed a dead letter; others equally futile were 
enacted iu ensuing sessions. Colonel Wil- 
liam Clayborne, Secretary of State, was dis- 
placed by Thomas Ludwell, commissioned 
by the king. In a revision of the laws, it 
was ordered, thai all acts which " might keep 
in memory our inforced deviation from his 
majestie's obedience," should be "repealed 
and expunged. "11 Although there were not 
ministers in above one-fifth of the parishes, 
yet the laws demanded strict conformity and 

* Hening, vol. 2, p. 24. 

t Bancroft, vol. 2, pp. 178199 

X Hening, vol 2, p. 18. The conjecture is Mr. Jeffer* 

sum's. 

S^ I lening, vol 2, p. 3'J. 
|| Ibid, vol. 2, p. 36. 
% Ibid, vol. 2, p. 42, 



16G0-G9.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



77 



required all to contribute to the established 
church. Tin.' vestry was now invested with 
the power of perpetuating its own body, by 
filling; vacancies themselves. * The assem- 
bly declared a determination to adhere, as 
near as "the capacity and constitution" of 
the country would admit, " to those ex- i 
and often refined laws of England." t The 
sses declare that " they have set down 
certain rules to be observed in the govern- 
ment of the church, until God shall please 
to turn his majesty's pious thoughts" towards 
them and " provide a bett< r supply of min- 
isters." | 

The "pious thoughts" of Charles II. (if 
he ever had any) were never turned to this 
remote corner of his empire. The magis- 
trates, hitherto called commissioners, were 
now styled "justices of the peace," and their 
courts, " county courts." § A duty was laid 
on rum, because it " had by experience been 
found to bring diseases and death to diverse 
people." An impost first established during 
the commonwealth, || was still levied on every 
hogshead of tobacco exported. This became 
a fixed source of revenue and rendered the 
executive independent of the legislature. 

The numerous acts relating to the Indians 
were reduced into one; prohibiting the Eng- 
lish from purchasing Indian lands; securing 
their persons and property; preventing en- 
croachments on their territory: ordering the 
-h seated near to assist them in fencing 
their corn-fields ; licensing them to oyster, 
fish, hunt and gather the natural fruits of the 
country; prohibiting trade with them with- 
out license, or imprisonment of an Indian 
km: 1 without special warrant; hounds to be 
annually defined; badges of silver ami cop- 
per plate to he furnished to Indian kings; 
no Indian to enter the English confines with- 
out a badge, under penalty of imprisonment, 
till ransomed by one hundred arms length ol 
roanoke, (Indian shell-money;) Indian kings, 
tributary to the English, to o-ive alarm of an- 



* H inoroft, vol. ", p. 201. Hening, vol. '.'. p. 1 1. 

-f I !ha!mprs' Introduction to a History of the Revolt of I lie 
American Col huh s, vol. 1 , p. lot. Honing, vol. 'J. p. 43. 

1 [1661.1 The lirv - Philip Mallory was sent out to En i 
land to solicii theeaiise of the , ini i. 'J Hen- 

uiL'. 1 1. 34. \ i stii s were ordered in procure subsci 
for Uie support of the Ministry.— lb. p. 37. 

<) Hening, vol. :.', p. 59. 

J I Chalmers' Introduction, vol. J, p. 101. 



proach of hostile Indians; Indians not to be 
sold as slaves, &c. 

Wahanganoche, king of Potomac, charged 
with treason ami murder b\ Captain Charles 
Brent, before the assembly, was acquitted, 
and I'nnt, with others concerned, was order- 
ed to pay Wahanganoche a certain sum of 
roanoke and some match-coats. The offen- 
ders were moreover disfranchised ami held to 
security for their good behavior.! 

In December, 1662, the assembly declared 
that " many schismaticall persons out of their 
aversenesse to the orthodox established re- 
ligion, or out of the new-fangled conceits of 
their owne hereticall inventions, refuse to 
have their children baptised" and imposed 
on such a fine of two thousand pounds of 
tobacco. | The General Court of Boston, in 
New England, having discharged a servant 
belonging to William Drummond, an inhabi- 
tant of Virginia, the assembly ordered repri- 
sal to be made on the property of some per- 
son residing at Boston. 

An act passed during the commonwealth 
for the suppression of the sect of Quakers, 
was now made still more rigorous. Persons 
attending their meetings were fined, for the 
first offence, 2001bs. of tobacco, for the se- 
cond, 5001bs., for the third, banished. § 

Mr. Durand, elder of a Puritan " very or- 
thodox church," in Nansemond county, had 
been banished from Virginia, by Sir William 
Berkley, in 1648. [166 r 2.] The Yeopim In- 
dians granted to "George Durant" the neck 
of land in North Carolina, which still bears 
his name. He was probably the exile. April 
1, lb'b*3, George Cathmaid claimed a large 
grant of land upon the holders of Albemarle 
Sound, in reward for having colonized sixty- 
seven persons in that province. In the same 
year, Berkeley was commissioned to insti- 
tute a government over this newly settled re- 
gion, which in honor of general Monk, now 
made Duke of Albemarle, received the name 
which time has transferred to the sound. [| 
1. 



,V- I 19 150. 



* Henins 
+ Hening 

i Hening, vol. 2, p. 16G. Bancroft, vol. 2, p. 202 in note, 
| concludes iii.it these persons were Baptists .mil adds, 
"Anabaptists are again named. lien., vol. 2, p. 198." 
Bui here the Anabaptist was a quaker. Bapl Ms ii is true, 
reject infaril Baptism; but they who reject infanl Baptism 
' y Baptists The Baptists ol Virginia, nt 
day, " disclaimed all connect ion with the Anabap- 
tists." See Si mple's \ irginia Baptists, p. 21. 

ning, vol. 2, pp. 180-183. ■ p '1S.c9.97. 

Bancroft, vol. 2, pp. 134-135 



78 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXIII. 



[1663.] The Assembly of Virginia denned 
the boundary between Virginia and Maryland 
and ordered Colonel Edward Scarburgh, 
Surveyor General, "to improve his best abil- 
ities in all other his majesty's concernes of 
land relating to Virginia, especially that to 
the northward of fforty degrees of latitude, 
being the utmost bounds of the said Lord 
Baltimore's grant." * 

[1666.] Maryland and North Carolina con- 
senting to a "stint," as it was then styled, 
the assembly of Virginia ordered a tot al 
sation of the cultivation of tobacco during 
the following year, t 

[1667.] Sir William Berkeley sent out a 
company of fourteen English and as many 
Indians, under command of Captain Henry 
Batt, to explore the Indian country. Setting 
out from the Appomattox river, in seven days 
they reached the foot of tin 1 mountains. The 
first ridge was nut very high or steep ; but 
after crossing that, they encountered others 
that seemed to touch the clouds and so steep 
that in a day's march, they could not advance 
more than three miles in a direct line. They 
found extensive valleys of richest verdure, 
abounding with turkies, deer, elk and buffa- 
lo, gentle and undisturbed as yet by the tear 
of man. Grapes were seen of the size of 
plums. After passing over the mountains, 
they came upon a delightful level country and 
■discovered a rivulet that flowed to the West- 
ward. Following it for some days, they 
reached old fields and cabins recently occu- 
pied by the natives. Batt left toys in them. 
Not far from these cabin:-, at some marshes, 
the Indian guides halted and refused to go 
any further, saying that not far oil' dwelt a 
powerful tribe that never suffered strangers 
that discovered their towns to escape. Batt 
was compelled to return. Upon receiving 
his report, Sir William Berkeley resolved to 
make an exploration himself. But his pro- 
ject was frustrated by the troubles that shortly 
after fell upon the country, t 

About this time, each county of Virginia 
was required to provide a weaverand a loom.§ 

The thirty tribes of Indians comprised 
within the Powhatan confederacy, south of 
the Potomac, at the time <,(' the first landing 



* 2. Hening, pp. 1 83- 1. 

\ Account "I Bacon's Rebellion in \ irginia <!.i/.<'tte. 

! Beverli y, B. 1, p. G4. 

£ Hening, vol. 'j, p. 238. 



at Jamestown, is conjecturally estimated at 
about eight thousand, being one to the square 
mile. '* [1669.] The number of warriors be- 
longing to tribes tributary to Virginia, was 
seven hundred and twenty-five and their pro- 
portion to the entire population being reck- 
oned as three to ten, their aggregate num- 
ber was about 2,400. Thus in about sixty 
years, the diminution of their numbers 
amounted to about five thousand, six hun- 
dred. Of these, part had perished from dis- 
ease, intemperance, famine and war; the 
rest had been driven back into the wilderness 
beyond the frontier. 

The lands at Green Spring, near James- 
town, were now settled on Sir William Berke- 
ley, the preamble to the act of conveyance 
reciting among his merits, "the great paines 
hee hath taken and hazards bee hath runne 
even of his life, in the government and pre- 
servation of the country from many attempts 
of the Indians, and alsoe in preserving us in 
our due allegiance to his majestie's royal] la- 
ther of blessed memory, and his now most 
sacred majestic against a.ll attempts long after 
all his majestie's other dominions were sub- 
jected to the tyranny of the late usurpers and 
alsoe seriously considering, that the said Sir 
William Berkeley hath in all the time of his 
government under his most sacred majestie 
and his royall father, made it his onely care 
to keep his majestie's country in a due obe- 
dience to our rightfull and lawfull sover- 
aigne," &c. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

1670—167.). 

Sir William Berkley's re ply to enquiries of the Lord Com- 
missioners ; The government of Virginia; The Militia; 
Forts; Indians; Boundary of Virginia; Commodities 
raised ; Popul it ion ; Health ; Trade ; Restrictions on it ; 
Governor' Salarj ; Quit-rents; Parishes; Freeschools 
and Printin , Charles grants the territory of Virginiato 
Arlington and Culpepper ; Revolt threatened in 1674; 
incursions ; Berkley's imbecilit) ; Other grievan- 
ces of the Planters; They appoint Agents to lay their 



Person's Notes on Vii ginia, p. 97. J [ening. vol. 2, 

M-275. i! Tofl, vol. 1, p. 180. Supposing that the 

m "I Ihe mountain country was rather sparser than 
that oi the lowlands, the whole number of the natives 
within the limits of the present territory ol Virginia, by a 
rough conjecture, may be estimated at forty thousand. 



1670-75.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



79 



complaints before the King; New rest ictions on trade; 
Spiritof the Virginians ; Elements of disaffection ; Three 
ominous presages. 

[1670.] The lords commissioners of for- 
eign plantations forwarded enquiries to Sir 
William Berkeley respecting Viro i uia, and he 
answered them in the following year, pre- 
senting a satisfactory statistical account of 
the colony. The executive consisted of a 
governor and sixteen councillors^ who held 
from the king a commission to hear and' de- 
termine all causes above fifte'en pounds. 
Causes of less amount were tried by county 
courts, of which there were twenty. The 
assembly met every year, composed of two 
burgesses from each county. Appeals lay to 
the assembly. That body levied the taxes. 
(This power, how ever, was delegated for some 
years to the executive.) The legislative and 
executive powers rested in the governor, 
council, assembly and subordinate officers. 
The secretary of the colony sent the acts of 
assembly to the Lord Chancellor or one of 
the principal secretaries in England. All 
freemen were bound to muster monthly in 
their own counties, and the force of the col- 
ony amounted to upwards of eight thousand 
horsemen. There were two forts on the 
James and one on each of the three rivers, 
Rappahannock, York and Potomac. The 
number of cannon was thirty. The Indians 
were in perfect subjection. The Eastern boun- 
dary of Virginia, on the sea coast, had been 
reduced from ten degrees, to half of a de- 
gree. Tobacco was the only commodity of 
any great value ; exotic mulberry trees had 
been planted, and seine attempts made to 
manufacture silk. There was plenty of tim- 
ber; of iron ore but little discovered. The 
whole population was 40,000 : of which were 
2,000 negro slaves, 6,000 white servants. 
The average annual importation of servants, 
was about 1,500; most of them English, a 
few Scotch, fewer Irish, and not above two 
or three ships with negroes in .-even years, 
New plantations were found sickly, and in 
such, four-fifths of the new settlers died. 
Eighty vessels came yearly from England 
and Ireland for tobacco. A few small ves- 
sels came from New England. Virginia had 



* They had increased one hundred fold in fift; 
since 1G20, when the first twenty were imported. 



not more than two vessels and they not over 
twenty tons. Sir William Berkeley com- 
plains bitterly of the act of parliament, re- 
stricting the trade of Virginia to the British 
kingdom : — a policy at once injurious to both 
lie adds that, " This is the cause, 
why no small or great vessels are built here: 
for we are most obedient to all laws, while 
tiio New England men break through and 
men trade to any place that their interest 
lead them." The only duty levied was two 
shillings on every hogshead of tobacco ex- 
ported. Out of (his revenue, the kina al- 
lowed the governor £1,000, to which the as- 
sembly added L'200. Yet Sir William com- 
plains, "I can knowingly affirm, that there 
is no government of ten years settlement, 
but has thrice as much allowed him. But I 
am supported by my hopes, that his gracious 
majesty will one day consider me." The 
kino- had no revenue in the colony < 
quit-rents. Every man instructed his chil- 
dren himself according to his ability. There 
were forty-eight parishes and " our minis- 
ters are well p.aid and by my consent should 
be better, if they would pray oftener and 
preach less. But as of all other commodi- 
ties so of this, the worst, are sent us and we 
have had few that we could boast of, since 
the persecution in Cromwell's tyranny drove 
divers men hither. But I thank God, there 
are no free schools nor printing, and I hope 
we shall not have these hundred years : for 
learning has brought disobedience and here- 
sy and sects into the world, and printing has 
divulged them and libels against the best 
government. Cod keep us from both !' 

The restoration, " the worst of all govern- 
ments," had resulted in establishing an arbi- 
trary and oppressive administration in Vir- 
ginia, in church and state. But as if the 
wantonness of re-instated tyranny rioted in 
boundless license, new outrages -a ere at 
hand. [1673.] Charles made grants to the 
Earl of Arlington and Lord Culpepper em- 
bracing the entire territory of Virginia. The 
patents entitled them to all rents and escheats, 
with power to convej all vacant lauds, nomi- 
nate sheriffs, escheators, surveyors, &c, pre- 
sent to all churches and endow them with 
lands, to form countries, parishes, &.C. The 
orants to these noblemen were limited to the 
term of thirty-one years, and yet they were 
preposterouslj authorized to make convey- 



80 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXIII. 



ances in fee simple. * Henry, Earl of Ar- 
lington, the best bred person in the royal 
court, was allied to the monarch as father-in- 
law to the king's son, by Lady Castlemaine. 
The able but artful and rapacious Culpepper 
was one of the Lord's Commissioners for 
trade and plantations, t The Virginians grew 
so impatient under these multiplied grievan- 
ces, that a revolt was near bursting forth in 
1674, but it was suppressed by the advice " of 
some discreet persons." This movement, 
however, was not without effect ; the justices 
of the peace were ordered to levy no more 
taxes for their own emolument, t [1675.] 
The Indian savages having renewed their 
bloody incursions upon the frontier, war was 
declared against them, five hundred men, un- 
der Sir Henry Chichclcy, ordered to inarch to 
the frontier, and eight forts to be garrisoned. § 
The march of the troops was, however, coun- 
termanded by the governor, but upon what 
sufficient grounds he never could explain. 
The danger now became so wide-spread and 
imminent, that all persons were required to 
go armed to church, and court, and days of 
fasting and humiliation were appointed. The 
people now urgently petitioned the Governor 
that they might be permitted to march against 
the savages and offered to enlist as volunteers 
at their own expense. || Sir William rejected 
their petitions with high displeasure. The 
minds of the planters were exasperated. 
The navigation act had reduced the price of 
tobacco very low, by prohibiting foreign goods 
from being imported into the colony, unless 
Hrst landed in England and shipped by Eng- 
lishmen, in English vessels, and by monopo- 
lizing the trade of tie- colony. The low price 
of tobacco had driven the planters to seek a 
violent remedy, by destroying the crop in the 
fields, called " plant cutting." To secure the 
trade of Virginia, the English government 
undertook to establish certain ports of entry 
and to erect towns, " where nature had said 
there should be none." The scheme failed ; 

* Hening, vol. 2 , p. 510. 

t Bum lull, vol. 2 , p. 209. 

t Ibid p. 21 i, and Hening, vol. 1., pp. 315, 316. 

§ There whs al this period a garrison near 1 he fulls of 
James river, at Captain Byrd's, or a fori opposite al New- 
lett's or Howlett's, and another near the falls ol the Appo- 
mattox, ii! Major General Wood's, "or over against him at 
one inn oi defensible place at fleets, of whi< h fort major 
Peter .lours" was " captain or rchii'fe c nander." Hen- 
ing, vol. 1, p. 328. 

I 1 Account of Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia Gazette. 



yet not without exacerbating the public dis- 
contents. They were further aggravated by 
the dividing the colony away among court 
favorites, by grants covering not only wild 
lands, but private plantations long settled and 
improved. To resist these enormities, it was; 
found necessary to appoint, in September of 
this year, 'agents to visit England and lay 
their complaints before the king. Their ex- 
penses * were provided for by taxes, that fell' 
heaviest oji the poorer class of people. These 
agents, Francis Morryson, Thomas Ludwell, 
and Robert Smith, solicited " that Virginia 
shall no more be transferred in parcels to In- 
dividuals, but may remain forever depen- 
dent on the crown of England ; that the pub- 
lic officers should be obliged to reside within 
the colony; that no tax shall be laid on the 
inhabitants, except by the assembly." This 
petition affords a singular commentary on the 
panegyrics, recently lavished by these loyal 
Virginians upon his " most sacred majestie," 
who repaid their fervid loyalty by an unre- 
lenting system of oppression. Parliament 
now claimed and exercised the power of 
taxing both the imports and exports of the 
colonies, and Virginia deprecated an assump- 
tion which, after the lapse of a century, she 
found it necessary to resist. The act of 25 
Car. 11. for better securing the plantation 
trade, laid duties on the commerce between 
one colony and another, and the revenue thus 
derived was absorbed by the officers who col- 
lected it. In the midst of these complicated 
oppressions, the commissioners, smitten with 
a slavish loyalty, supplicated the king to make 
Sir William Berkeley governor lor life. The 
people of Virginia, groaning under these ac- 
cumulated grievances and tortured by so 
many cruel apprehensions, began to meditate 
violent measures of relief. Some of the feu- 
dal institutions of England — those ancient 
buttresses of tyranny had no existence here. 
Principles, proper to the mother country, losl 
their force m America, and others, conforma- 
ble to a new position, gradually usurped their 
place. Men, transplanted to a new hemis- 
phere, changed their sentiments as well as 
their clime. Thus, even in Virginia, the most 
in and loyal of the colonies, a spirit 
of freedom and independence naturally in- 

* These included douceurs to be given to courtiers, for 
without money "it was certain nothing could be effected at 
the venal court of Charles II." Account in Va. Gazette. 



1675-76. 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



81 



fused itself into the breasts of the planters. 
An ocean separated them from England and 
attenuated the terror of a distant sceptre. 
The supremacy of law being yet not firmly 
established, especially in the border country, 
"a wild spirit of justice" had arisen, which 
was apt to decline into a contempt of au- 
thority and licentious insubordination. Add- 
ed to this, the colony contained some disor- 
derly elements; dissolute adventurers, com- 
victs, male-content Cromwellian soldiers re- 
duced to bondage, victims of civil wwr ripe 
for revolt and who found an avenue of hope 
only in intestine convulsions. A spark only 
was wanting to kindle these combustible ma- 
terials. The horrid massacres of former years 
made the colonists sensitive to alarms and 
impatient of indifference to their fearful ap- 
prehensions. The fatigues, privations and 
hardships of a pioneer life inspired fortitude ; 
while frequent conflict with a savage fo 
tinned courage. The wild magnificence of 
nature, the fresh luxuriance of a. virgin soii, 
gloomy forest 3, mighty rivers and hoar) moun- 
tains — all these could not fail to kindle emo- 
tions in the human breast consonant with the 
spirit of liberty. In fine, disaffection was em- 
boldened by tin 1 civil dissensions of En dand, 
which now threatened the stability of the 
throne of the second Charles. 

" About the year 1675 [says an old writer] 
appear'd three prodigies in that country, 
which, from th' attending disasters, were 
Iook'd upon ;is ominous presages. The one 
was a large comet every evening for a week 
or more at South-west; thirty five degrees 
high, streaming like; a liorse-taile westwards, 
untill it reach'd (almost) the horison and set- 
ting towards the North-west. Another was 
fiiights of pi 'ions, in bredth nigh a. quarter 
of the mid-hemisphere and of their length 
was no visible end; whose weights brake 
down the limbs of large trees whereon these 
rested at nights of which the Howlers shot 
abundance and eat 'em : this sight put the 
old planters under the more portentous ap- 
prehensions because the like was seen (as 
they said) in the year Hi 10, when th' Indians 
committed the lasl massacre, but not after, 
until that present year 1675. The third 
Strang' 'nee was swarms of fflyes, 

about an inch long and big as the top of a 
man's little finger, rising out of spigot holes 
in the earth, which eal the new sprouted 



leaves from the tops of the trees, without 
other harm and in a month left us." 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
1675— 1676. 

I Piseataway-; Col. John Washington ; Si; »l the 
Indians slain ; The fort evacuated ; The Indians murdi r 
th*e mil ibitants ol the frontier ; Servant ami ovi rseer of 
Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., slain ; His indignation; Alarming 
Condition ol the country ; The people take up anus in 
their own defence; Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., chosen leader ; 
His character ; He harangues the Insurgents; Solicits 
a commission of General from Sir William Berkeley ; 
Berkeley proclaims the insurgents rebels ami with a 
party of mounU d gentlemen pursues I lie in ; The | 
of the lower country now revolt; The Forts dismantled ; 
The Rebellion not the resuli of personal pique or ambit ion 
in Baeiwi; lie marches into the wilderness; Massacre 
( .[ friendly Indians; Bacon returns; Is elected a Bur- 
gess ; Arrested; Govermn Berkeley relenses him on his 
parole; The Assembly meets; Bacon confesses Ins 
crimes am! sues for pardon ; He is restored to his seal, 
in the Council .iinl Ins friends are released; Nathaniel 
Bacon, senior; Berkeley issues secret warrants for the 
ai resi ol thi \ lunger Bacon. 

In the year 1675 a herdsman named Rob- 
ert Hen, together with an Indian, was slain 
by a party of the tribe of Doegs in the coun- 
ty of Northumberland, t Colonel Mason 
and Captain Brent, with some militia, pur- 
suing the offender!- beyond the frontier of 
Maryland, slaughtered indiscriminately a 
number of them and of the Susqueha* 
noughs, a friendly tribe. These latter re- 
cently driven by the Seneca s, a tribe of th five 
nations t from their own country at the head 
of the Chesapeake bay, now sought refuge 
in a fort of the Piscataways, another friendly 
tribe near the bead of the Potomac. This 
fort was besieged byathousand militia raised 
on both sides of that river. They were com- 
manded by Colonel John Washington of 
Westmoreland county, Virginia, — the great 
grandfather of George Washington. Col. 



* T. M's Account in Ken hcval's Hist, of the Valley. 

f For the following details see generally T. M's ;i 
to be found K< r< Hist, ol the \ ill j p ' Men. 

vol. 2, p. 311-513 B< vcrley, B. I, p. C5. K ith, p. 156. 

l'or\ Miic and ( 'onclu - Burk, vol. 2, p. 2; ' 

ol I'.ai m am Va. t !azelte foi the j car. A ml 

'- il;-: Tim i -. 

I Bancroft, vol. 2, p 215, el eij C i mi >' Annals, pp. 



U 



82 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXIV. 



John Washington had arrived in the colony 
about the year 1658. Not long after, being, 
as has been conjectured, a surveyor, he had 
made locations of lands, which, however, 
were set aside, until the Indians, to whom 
these lands had been assigned, should vacate 
them. [1667.] He was a member of the 
house of burgesses.* To return to the siege ; 
six of the Indian chiefs sent out from the 
fort on a parley were shot down by the mi- 
litia. The savages now made a desperate 
resistance, subsisting partly on horses cap- 
tured from the whiles, and at the end of six 
weeks, seventy-five warriors, with their wo- 
men and children, pressed by famine, evac- 
uated the fort in the night, marching off by 
the light of the moon, making the welkin 
ring with yells of defiance, and putting to 
death ten of the militia found asleep. The 
savages making their way by the head waters 
of the Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and 
James, murdered such of the inhabitants as 
they met, to the number of sixty — sacrifi- 
cing ten ordinary victims for each one of the 
clue!'-; that they had lost. They now sent a 
message to the governor by an English in- 
terpreter declaring themselves ready for 
peace or for war. t 

At the falls of the James they had slain a 
servant of Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., and his over- 
seer, to whom he was much attached. J He 
vowed to avenge their blood. In that peri- 
od of apprehension and alarm, the more cx- 
posed and defenceless families deserting 
their homes, took shelter in houses of greater 
numbers and fortified them with palisades 
and redoubts. Neighbors banding togethei 
passed in co-operating parties from planta- 
tion to plantation, taking arms with them 
into the fields where they labored, ami post- 

* Burk, vol. 2, p. lit. See also " An accouni ot out 
late troubles in Virginia, written in IC76, bj Mrs. An. Cot- 
ton, of Q. Creeke," p. 3, in Force's Historical Tracts, vol. 1 . 
Tins curious document was published From the original 
manuscript in the Richmond Enquirer, of 12th Sept., 1804. 
T. M's account, no less interesting, u us n published in the 
same paper. !i may also be found in the Religious and Lit- 
erary Magazine, edited by Rev. Dr. John H. Rice. The 
discrepancies between the several n Litmus can hardly be 
leconciled. 

f " Narrative of the Inch an and civil wars in Virginia in 
the year 1675 and KiTii." p. 1 in Force's' Hist. Tracts, vol. 
1. Tins account is evidently, in the main, if not altogether, 
by the same hand with the letter bearing the signature oi 
Mis. An Cotton. Several passages arc identical. These 
documents displaj genius and satirical wit. 

t Bacon himsell resided at Curie's on the James river. 
Accouni in V a. Gazette. 



entinels to give warning of the insidious 
foe. No man ventured out of doors unarmed. 
The Indians, in small parties, stealing with 
furtive glance through the shade of the forest, 
the noiseless tread of the moccason scarce 
stirring a leaf, prowled around like pan- 
thers in quest of prey. At length the peo- 
ple at the bead of the James and the York, 
exasperated by the wrongs of a government 
so vigorous in oppression and so imbecile for 
deience, and .alarmed at the slaughter of their 
neighbors, — often murdered with circum- 
stances of cruel torture and barbarity, — rose 
tumultuously in their own defence and chose 
Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., for their leader. Ed- 
I at the inns of Court in England, pos- 
sessed of a competent fortune, young, bold 
and ambitious ; of an attractive person, fasci- 
nating manners, and commanding eloquence, 
he was the most accomplished gentleman of 
his age in Virginia. It was now less than 
three years since his arrival in the colony, * 
and his genius had already raised him to a 
seat in the council, and his manners had 
won for him an extensive popularity. Ba- 
con called to the command, harangued the 
insurgent planter?, on the horrors of Indian 
massacre — the imbecility of the government 
and all their grievances. He avowed that 
he accepted the command, only to serve 
them and the country ; for which he was 
ready to endure the severest trials and en- 
counter the most formidable dangers ; and he 
pledged himself never to lay down his arms 
until he had executed vengeance on the In- 
dian savages and redressed all the wrongs of 
his countrymen. His accents found an echo 
in every breast and the insurgent planters, 
tired with contagious enthusiasm, vowed 
unanimous devotion to him. Bacon, thus 
joined by " many gentlemen of good condi- 
tion," mustered in '20 days 500 men. t He 
now endeavored to obtain from the Govern- 
or a commission of General, with authority 
to lead out his followers, at their own ex- 
pense, against the Indians. He then stood so 
high in the council, that Sir William Berkeley 
found it imprudent to return a downright re- 
fusal, .and he concluded to temporize, llow- 



* " lie settled at Curie's upon James River in the midst 
of those people who were the greatest sufferers from the 
depredations of the Indians and he himself frequently felt 
the effects o( then inroads." — Acct. in Va. Gazette. 

+ Ac< Km \ a. Gazette. 



1675-76.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



83 



ever, some of the leading men about Sir 
William fomented the differences between 
him and Bacon, having " his merits in mis- 
trust as a luminary that threatened to eclipse 
their rising glories." * The governor's an- 
swer was sent by some of his friends, who 
endeavored to persuade Bacon to disband. 
But lie refused. 

Thereupon, the governor, on the 29th of 
May, issued a proclamation, declaring rebels 
all who should fail to return t within a cer- 
tain time, and starting from Middle Planta- 
tion, (now Williamsburg,) with a party of 
mounted gentlemen, followed after Bacon to 
the falls of James river, but returned without 
effecting anything. During the Governor's 
absence, the planters of the lower country 
rose in open revolt and declared against the 
frontier forts as a useless and intolerable bur- 
then. The repugnance always displayed in 
Virginia to them, was probably heightened 
by a secret apprehension, lest these means 
of defence might be made \i^e of as the in- 
struments of despotism. To restore quiet 
the forts were dismantled ; the assembly, the 
Odious "Long Parliament" of Virginia, was 
dissolved, and writs for a new election issued. 
This revolt in the lower country, with which 
Bacon had no immediate connection, de- 
monstrates how widely the leaven of rebel- 
lion, as it was styled, pervaded the body of 
the people and how unfounded is the notion, 
that it was the result of personal pique or 
ambition in Bacon. Had he never set his 
foot on the soil of Virginia, there ran be lit- 
tle doubt but that a rebellion would have oc- 
curred at this time. There was no man in 
the colony with a brighter prospect before 
him than Paeon ; nor could he have enga- 
ged in the popular movement, without a 
sacrifice of selfish considerations, and immi- 
nent risk, t The movement was revolu- 

* Narrative of the Imlian and civil wars, p. 10. This 
circumstanci II to mind the condm I "I some ol 

the leaders in Virginia, who,: hundred years afterwards, 
drove Patrick Henry from the army. 

f According to "Narrative of the Indian and Civil 
Wars," p. 10. [Jacon , before the murder of his overseer, 
had been refu imission and had sworn passion 

ately that upon the next murdei he should hear of, he 
v\ouhl march against the Indians, "commission or no com- 
mission." Ami when ont ol his own family was 1 ut< In ri d, 
" he goi together about seventy or ninety persons, most 
good housekeepers, well armi d," \ <•. Burk, vol 
makes their number " near 000 men,"' and refers to ancient 
(MS ) records. 

t Burk, vol. :.', p. 100. 



tionary, — a miniature prototype of the revo- 
lution of 1688, in England, and of 1776, in 
Virginia itself. 

Meanwhile the men of property in Bacon's 
little army, fearful of a confiscation, deserted 
their leader and returned to their home-. 
But Bacon, with fifty-seven men, penetrated 
into the Imlian country, until his provisions 
were nearlj exhausted, without discovering 
the enemy. At length a tribe of friendly 
Mannakin [ndians were found entrenched 
within a pallisaded fort. Bacon endeavoring 
to procure provisions from them was refused, 
and one of his men being killed by a random 
shot, suspecting treachery, he stormed the 
fort, burnt it and the cabins, and with a loss 
of only throe of his party, put to death one 
hundred and fifty Indians. >: It is difficult 
to credit, and impossible to justify this mas- 
sacre. Paeon, with his company, now re- 
turned home and was shortly alter elec- 
ted one of the burgesses for the ceunty of 
Henrico. Brewse or Brace, his colleague 
and a captain of the Insurgents, was not 
less odious to the go'-emor. t Bacon upon 
his election, going down the James river, 
with a party of his friends, was met by an 
armed vessel, ordered on board of her and 
arrested by Major Howe, high sheriff of 
Jamestown, t who conveyed him to the gov- 



* According to " Narrative of Indian and Civil Wars," 
p. 11. Bacon blew up their Magazine of aims and gun- 
powder. See also account in Virginia Gazette. 

t It was afterwards charged by the King's commission- 
ers that the malecontents returned freemen (not being 
freeholders) for burgesses. Breviarie and Conclusion, 2. 
Burk, p. 251. The i hat re was well founded. 

| Beverley, I!. 1, p. 71, gives another version: " Mat- 
ters did not succeed there to Mr. Bacon's satisfaction, 
wherefore he < spn ssed hiins< If a little too rrcely. For 

which, being sus] led from the council, he went away 

again in a huff, with his sloop and followers. The over- 
nor filled a loi i men and pursued the i 
close, that colonel Bacon remon d into his I oal to make 
!,'. Bu! the governor had sent up by land to the 
ships at Sand) Point, where he was slopped and sent 
in." Keith, p. 15a. 1 ley. 'I he Bre- 
viarie and Conc.lu ion, Burk, vol. 2, p. 250, gives still a dif- 
ferent account: "At the i ing ol the new assembly. 

Bacon conies down to Jamestown in a sloop and armed 
men in he,- ; is shot at and fot i I to fly up the rivet ; is 
pursued and lal en pi isoner by < !apt. Thou Gard 
delivered up to the governor." 

T. M's account, followed in the text, seems the more 
probable, since he w..s a burgess present in Jamestown 
I ! ic m's capture. The account in the \ ir- 
ginia Gazette follows the Breviarie and Conclusion 
cording to " Narrative of Indian and Civil Wars," 
was captured in his own sloop lying at Jamestown. 



84 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXIV. 



ernor at that place, by whom he was accost- 
ed thus : — 

"Mr. Bacon, you had forgot to be a gen- 
tleman." 

Bacon. "No, may it please your honour." 

Governor. "Then I'll take your parol," 
which he did and gave him his liberty. A 
number of his companions who had been 
arrested with him, were still kept in irons. 

On the 5th of June, 1676, the new assem- 
bly met in the chamber over the genei >s of the present grand assembly to in 



and quietnesse. And I doe hereby, upon 
my knees, most humbly begg of Almighty 
God and of his majestie's said governour, that 
upon this my most harty and unfeigned ac- 
knowledgment of my said miscarriages and 
unwarrantable practices, he will please to 
grant me his gracious pardon and indemp- 
nity, humbly desireing also the honourable 
councell of state, by whose goodnesse I am 
also much oblesred ami the honourable bur- 



court, and having chosen a speaker, the gov- 
ernor sent for them down and addressed 
them in a brief abrupt speech on the Indian 
disturbances, and in allusion to the chiefs who 
had been slain, exclaimed: " If they had 
killed my grandfather and my grandmother, 
my father and mother and all my friends, yet 
if they had come to treat of peace, they ought 
to have gone in peace." After a little inter- 
val, he rose again and said : " If there be joy 
in tin- presence of the Angels over one sin- 



terc< ed and mediate with his honour, to 
grant me such pardon. And 1 doe hereby 
promise, upon the word and faith of a chris- 
tian and of a gentleman, that upon such 
pardon granted me, ;;s 1 shall ever acknow- 
ledge so great a favour, soe 1 will alwaies 
bear true faith and allegiance to his most 
sacred majestie and demeane myself dutiful- 
ly, faithfully and peacably to the government 
and tiie laws of (his country, and am most 
ready audi willing to enter into bond of two 



ner that repenteth, there is joy now, for we thousand pounds Stirling, and for security 
have a penitent sinner come before us : — call thereof, bind my whole estate in Virginia to 



Mr. Bacon." Bacon now appearing, wa 
compelled upon one knee, at the bar of the 



untry, for my good and quiett behaviour 
for one whole yeare, from this date, and doe 



house, to confess his crimes and beg pardon | promise and obleige myself to continue my 

said duty and allegiance at all times after- 
wards. In testimony of this my We:' and 
harty recognition, 1 have hereunto subscribed 
m\ name this ninth day of June, 167(i. 

Natii. Bacon." 



of God, the king and governor, in the fol- 
lowing words : " : 

" I, Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., of Henrico coun- 
ty, in Virginia, doe hereby most readily, 
freely and most humbly acknowledge that I 
am, and have been guilty of diverse late un- 
lawfull, mutinous and rebellious practices, 
contrary to my duty to his most sacred ma- 
jestie's governour and this country, by beat* 
ing Lip of drums; raiseing of men in armes ; 
marching with them into severall parts of his 
most sacred majestie's polony, not only with- 
out order and commission, but contrary to 
the express orders and commands of the E ighl 
Hon. Sir William Berkeley, Kni., his majes- 
ties most worthy governor and Captain Gen*- 
oral of Virginia. And J do further acknow- 
ledge, that the said honorable governour hat h 
been very favorable to me, by hi.^ several re- 
iterated gracious offers of pardon, therebj to 
reclaime me from the persecution of those 
my unjust proceedings, (whose noble and 
generous mercy and clemency 1 can never 
sufficiently acknowledge,) and for the re- 
settlement of this whole country in peace 

* Honing, vol. 'J., pp. 543-544. 



»n of tl 



; council was as fol- 
jestie's councell of 



i he mterci 
lows : '• Wee ol 
the Stale of Virginia, doe hereby desire ac- 
cording to Mr. Bacon's request, the right 
honourable the governor to grant the said 
Mr. Bacon his freedom. Dated the 9th of 
June, L676. 



Phill. Ludwell, 
James Bray. 
\\ in. Cole, 
Ra. Wormeley, 



Hen. Chicheley, 
Nath'l Bacon, 
TllOS. Beale, 
Tho. Ballard. 
Jo. Brid"er." 



When Bacon had made his acknowledg- 
ment, (lie governor exclaimed, " God forgive 
you, I forgive you," repeating the words 
thrice. Col. Cole id' the council added, 
'• and ali thai were with him ;" " yea," echoed 
the governor, " and all thai were with him," 
for there were then twenty persons or more 
in irons, who had been arrested in company 
on, when he was coming down the 



1676.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



85 



river. Sir William Berkeley now starting up I again, intending probably to raise the militia 



from his chair, for the third time, exclaimed, 
"Mr. Bacon if you will live civilly but till next 
Quarter court, Il'e promise to restore you 
againe to yo'r place there," (pointing with 
his hand to Mr. Bacon's seat,) he having 
been of the council before those troubles, 
although he had been only a few years in 
Virginia and having been deposed by the 
governor's proclamation. However, instead 
of being obliged to wait till the quarterly 
court, Bacon was restored to his seat in the 
council on that very day. Intelligence of ii 
was hailed with joyful acclamations by the 
people in Jamestown. This took place on 
Saturday. Bacon was also promised a com- 
mission to go out against the Indians, to be 
delivered him on the Monday following ; 
but being delayed or disappointed, a few days 
alter, (the assembly being engaged in taking 
measures against the Indians,) he escaped 
from Jamestown. He conceived the gover- 
nor's pretended generosity to be only a lure 
to keep him out of his seat in the house o, 
burgesses and to quiet the people of the up- 
per country, who were hastening down to 
Jamestown, to avenge all wrongs done to 
him <>r his friends, t 

There was in the council at this time one 
Colonel Nathaniel Bacon, a near relative of 
Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., who was not yet thirty 
\ears of age. The elder Bacon was a weal- 
thy politic old man, childless, and intending 
to make his name-sake and kinsman his heir. 
!t was by the pressing solicitations of this 
old gentleman, as was believed, that young 
Bacon was reluctantly prevailed upon to re- 
peat, at the bar of the house the recantation 
written by the old gentleman. And it was 
lie, as was supposed, who gave timely warn- 
ing to the young Bacon to flee for his life. 
Three or four days after his first arrest, many 
country people from the heads of the rivers, 
appealed in Jamestown : but finding Bacon 
restored to his place in the council and his 
companions at liberty, they relumed home 
satisfied. in a shorl time, however, the wa- 
vering, temporizing old governor seeing all 
quiet, issued secret warrants to sieze him 

* Brcviarie and Conclusion, Burk, vol. 2, p. 250. Mrs. 
4 ii n Cotton's letter. Compare Chalmers' Annals, p. :>:j'3-:s. 

t According to Mrs. Cotton's letter, Bacon obtaini il leave 
of absence to visit Ins wile : "si( k as In- pn tended." But. 
from T. M's account am] otliets this appears to be errone- 
ous. 



and prevent a rescue. 



CHAPTER XXV. 
1676. 

Bacon with an armed force enters Jamestown ; Extorts 
a Commission from the Governor; Proceedings of the 

Assembly ; Bacon marches against the Pamunkies. 
Berkeley summons the Gloucester militia ; Bacon coun- 
termarches upon the Governor; lie escapes to Acco- 
mac ; Bacon encamps at Middle Plantation; Calls a 
Convention; Oath prescribed to he taken by the inhabi- 
tants; Sarah Drummond ; Giles Bland seizes an armed 
vessel and sails for Accomac ; His capture ; Berkley re- 
turns and takes possession of Jamestown ; Bacon exter- 
minates the Indians on the frontier. 

Within three or four days after Bacon's 
hegira, news reached Jamestown, that he was 
thirty miles above, on the James river, at the 
head of four hundred men. Sir William 
Berkeley now summoned the York train- 
bands to defend Jamestown. Only one hun- 
dred obeyed the summons, and they arrived 
too late and one half of them were favorable 
to Bacon. Expresses almost hourly brought 
intelligence of his approach. In less than 
four days, at two o'clock, P. M., he marched 
into Jamestown unresisted, and drew up his 
force, (now numbering six hundred men.) 
horse and foot, in battle array on the green, 
in front of the State-house. In half an hour 
the drum heat, as was the custom, for the 
assembly to meet, and in less than thirty min- 
utes, Bacon advanced with a file of fusileers 
on either hand, near to the corner of the 
State-house, where he was met b\ the gover- 
nor and council. The governor baring his 
breast, cried out, " here ! shoot me, — fore 
God fair mark', shoot," frequently repeating 
the words. Bacon replied : " No, maj it 
please yo'r hono'r, we will not hurt a hair of 
yo'r head, nor of any other man's: we are 
come for a co'mission to save our lives from 
th' Indians, which you have so often promis- 
ed and now we will have it before we go." 
Bacon was walking to and fro between the 
files of his men. holding his left arm akimbo, 
'•with outragious postures," and gesticula- 
ting violently with his right. Sir William 
Berkeley was no less agitated. After a few 
moments he withdrew to his private apart- 
ment, at the other end of the State-house, 



86 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXV. 



the members of the council accompanying 
him. Bacon followed, frequently hurrying 
his hand from his sword-hilt to his hat and ex- 
claiming, "Damn my bloud, Fie kill govern'r, 
councill, assembly and all, and then I'le 
sheath my sword in my own heart's blond !" 
It was understood that he had given private 
orders to his men, that upon the signal of his 
drawing his sword, they should fire. The 
fusileers with cocked guns pointed at a win- 
dow of the assembly-chamber, crowded with 
faces, repeated in threatening tones, " We 
will have it, we imll have it" — meaning the 
commission of General for Bacon. One of 
the burgesses, waiving his handkerchief, cried 
out: " You shall have it — you shall have it," 
when uncocking their guns they shouldered 
them and stood still, till Bacon returning, 
they rejoined the main body. In about an 
hour after, Bacon re-entered the assembly- 
chamber and demanded a commission, au- 
thorizing him to march out against the In- 
dians. Godwin, the Speaker, * who was a 
Baconian, remaining silent in the chair, a 
burgess named Bruce t (or Brewse,) a col- 
league of Bacon, alone found courage to 
answer, " twas not in our province or power 
nor of any other save the king's vice-gerent, 
our govern'r." Bacon nevertheless still warm- 
ly urged his demand, and harangued the body 
for near half an hour, on the Indian distur- 
bances; the condition of the public reven- 
ues ; the exhorbitant taxes, abuses and cor- 
ruptions of the administration, and all the 
grievances of their miserable country. Hav- 
ing concluded and finding " no other answer, 
be went away dissatis fied." 

The assembly went on to provide for the 
Indian war, and made Ba< on General and 
Commander-in-chief, which was ratified by 
the governor. "An act of indemnity was 
also passed to Bacon and his party for com- 
mitting this force and a high applausive let- 
ter was writ in favor of Bacon's designs and 
proceedings to the king's majesty, signed by 
the governor, council and assembly." t Sir 
William Berkeley at the same lime address- 
ed a letter to king Charles 11., writing, "I 
have above 30 years governed the most nour- 
ishing coui.tr} the sun ever shone over, bul 



' 2. [Iening, p. & G 

■\ Brewso, according to \ '• i iriarii ind Conclusion, in 
Burk, vol. '.'. [i. 250. 131ayton, according lo T. M. 
J Breviarii and Conclusion. Burk, vol. 2, p. 251. 



am now encompassed with rebellion like 
waters, in every respect like to that of Mas- 
sanello, except their leader." * Some of the 
burgesses also wrote to his majesty, setting 
forth the circumstances of the outbreak. 

The amnesty extended from the 1st of 
March to the 25th of June, 1676, and ex- 
cepted only offences against the law con- 
cerning the Indian trade, t The assembly, 
however, did not restrict itself lo measures 
favorable to Bacon. It adopted a middle 
ground between him and the governor., On 
the one hand, Bacon, according to the letter 
of the law at least, had been guilty of rebel- 
lion and he had so acknowledged. Yet he 
was not more guilty than the majority of the 
people of the colony, and probably not more 
so than a majority of the assembly itself. 
And the popular movement seemed justified 
by a necessary self-dolence and an intolera- 
ble accumulation of public grievances. On 
the other hand, Sir William Berkeley had 
violated a solemn engagement to grant the 
commission. Added to these considerations 
it did not escape the notice of the assembly 
thai the term often years, for which Sir Wil- 
liam Berkeley had been appointed, had ex- 
pired, and this circumstance, although it 
might not be held absolutely to terminate his 
authority, served at the least to attenuate its 
weight. The assembly pursued a line of 
compromise, with a view at once to vindi- 
cate the supremacy of law; to heal the 
wounded pride of the governor ; to protect 
the country ; to screen Bacon and his con- 
federates from punishment and to reform the 
abuses of the government. 

It is remarkable that the resolutions in- 
structing the Virginia delegates in congress 
to declare the colonies free and independent, 
were passed in June, 1776, and that the as- 
sembly, under Bacon's influence, met in 
June, 1676. t 

The firsl act of (he session declared war 
against the Indians, — ordering a levy of one 
thousand men and authorizing General 15a- 



* Massaniello, or Thomas Anello, ;i fisherman ol Na- 
ples, limn IG23. Exasperated by the oppressive taxes laid 
by Austria upon Ins countrymen, at the head ol two thous- 
and young an n, a <l with canes, he overthrew the vice- 
roy; seized upon the supreme power, and after holding it 
some years, Id! by the hands ol assassins m 1647. Lt'm- 
priere's Biog. I >icl ionai \ . 

f Hen., vol. 2. p. 2G3. 

j Is .mi;:, vol. 2, p. a 12. 



1676.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



87 



con to receive volunteers, and ii' their num- 
ber proved sufficient, to dispense with the 
regular force. An act was then passed for the 
suppressing of tumults ; the preamble reci- 
ting, that there had " bin many unlawful tu- 
mults, routs and riotts in divers parts (ii' this 
country," and that " certain ill-disposed and 
disaffected people of late gathered and may 
again gather themselves together by hoatc 
of drumme and otherwise, in a most appa- 
rent rebellions manner." " The act for reg- 
ulating of officers and offices" shows how 
many abuses and how much rapacity had 
crept into the administration. The demo- 
cratic spirit of this assembly displayed itself 
in a law, "enabling freemen to vote for bur- 
gesses," and another making the church ves- 
tries eligible by the freemen of each parish 
once in three years. An act for suppress- 
ing " ordinaries," or taverns, expresses a 
sense of the evils of intemperance. Col. 
Edward Hill and Lieutenant John Stith, of 
Charles City, were disabled from holding of- 
fice in that county, for having fomented mis- 
understandings between the governor and 
the people of Charles City and Henrico 
counties, and having been instrumental in 
levying exhorbitant taxes. 

In token of the excitement and suspicion 
then prevailing in the assembly, it was ob- 
served that some of the members wore dis- 
tinctive badges. 

In a few days, however, the assembly was 
dissolved by the Governor, who seeing how 
great Bacon's influence was, apprehended 
only further mischief from their proceed- 
ings. A number of the burgesses intend- 
ing to depart on the morrow, having met in 
the evening to take leave of each other, 
General Bacon, as he now came to be styled, 
entered the room with a handfull of papers 
and looking around, enquired, "which of these 
gentlemen shall I interest to write a few word.-. 
for me ?" All present looking aside, being 
unwilling to interfere, Lawrence Bacon's 
friend pointing to one of the company, (the 
author of T. M's account,!) said " that gen- 
tleman writes very well," and he, underta- 
king to excuse himself, Bacon, bowing low, 
said, " pray sir, do me the honor to write a 

* II). vol 2. pp. 352-353-356-364. 

f I have in vain endeavored to ascertain the name o I 
this person. He appears to have been a planter and a mer- 
chant. 



line for me," and he consenting, was de- 
tained during the whole night filling up i 
missions obtained (Voir, the governor and 
signed by him. The,-; i ommissions Bacon 
filled almost altogether with the nam'- of 
the regular militia officers of the country, 
the first men in the colony in fortune, rank 
and influence. 

His vigorous measures at once restored 
confidence to the planters and they resumed 
their occupations. * Bacon, at the head of 
one thousand men, marched against th< 
munkies, killing many and destroying their 
towns. Meanwhile, the people of Glouces 
ter, the most populous and loyal county, hav- 
ing been disarmed by Bacon, petitioned the 
governor for protection against the savages. 
Sir William Berkeley, re-animated by this cir- 
cumstance, ana in proclaiming Bacon a rebel 
and a traitor hastened to Gloucester, and 
summoning the train-bands of that county 
and Middlesex, numbering twelve hundred 
men, proposed to them to pursue and put 
down the rebel Bacon, when the whole as- 
semblage shouted " Bacon, Bacon, Bacon," 
and withdrew from the field still repeating 
the name of that popular leader, and leaving 
the aged cavalier governor and his attendants 
to themselves. t Francis Morryson, afterwards 
one of the king's commissioners, in a letter 
dated London, Nov. 28, 1677, to Secretary 
Ludwell says : "I fear when that part of the 
narrative comes to be read that mentions the 
Gloucester petitions, \ our brother may be pre- 
judiced; for there are two or three that will 
be summoned, will lay the contrivance at 
your brother's door and Beverley's, but more 
upon your brother, who they say was the 
drawer of it. For at the first sight all the 
lords judged that that was the unhappy acci- 
dent that made the Indian war recoil into a 
civil war; for the reason you alledged, that 
bond and oath were proffered the governor 
intended not against Bacon but the Indians 
confirmed the people, thai Bacon's commis- 
sion was good, it never being before disa- 
vowed by proclamation but by letters writ 
to his majesty in commendation of Bacon's 
actino-, copies thereof dispersed among the 
people." .; 

* Narrative of Indian and Civil Wars, p. 13. 
t T. M's arc, mnt. 

j Burk, vol. 2, p. 268. According to Narrativi ol Indian 
and civil wars, p. 11, the people of Gloucester refused to 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXV. 



From the result of this affair of the Glou- 
cester petitions, we may conclude, that either 
they contained nothing unfavorable to Bacon, 
or if they did, that they were gotten up by 
some designing leaders without the consent 
of the people. And it is certain that now 
when Bacon's violent proceedings at James- 
town were known, the great body of the peo- 
ple favored his cause and approved Ids de- 
signs. 

Meanwhile Bacon, before he reached the 
head of York river, hearing from Lawrence 
and Drummond of the Governor's movements, 
exclaimed, " it vexed him to the heart that 
while he was hunting wolves which were des- 
troying innocent lambs, the governor and 
those with him should pursue him in the rear 
with full cry, and that he was like corn be- 
tween two mill-stones which would grind him 
to powder if he did'nt look to it." * He 
marched immediately back against the gov- 
ernor. Sir William Berkeley finding him- 
self abandoned, made lii.s escape with a few 
friends down York river and across the Ches- 
apeake bay to Accomac on the Eastern shore. 
Before his flight, however, he again, on the 
29th of July, proclaimed Bacon a rebel t 
Bacon upon reaching Gloucester sent out 
parties of horse to patrol the country and 
made prisoners such as were suspected of 
disaffection to his Indian expedition ; releas- 
ing on parole those who took an oath to re- 
turn home and remain quiet. This oath was 
strictin form but little regarded. 

About this time a spy was detected in Ba- 
con's camp. He pretended to lie a deserter 
and had repeatedly changed side:-. Being 
sentenced to death by a court-martial, Bacon 
declared, "that if any one in the army would 
speak a word to save him, lie should not sui- 
fer ;" but no one interceding he was put to 
death. Bacon's clemency won the admira- 

march against Bacon, bul pledged themselves to defend the 
governor against him il lie should turn against Sir William 
and his government, which, however, they hoped would 
never happen. 

* Mrs. Cotton's Li Iter. 

+ A vindication of Sir William, afterwards published, 
says, "Nor is it to be wondered at, thai he did not imme- 
diately put forth proclamations to undeceive the people; 
because he had then no means of securing himself nor 
forces to have maintained such a proclamation by, bul he 
took the first opportunity he could of doing all this when 
Glouster county having been plundered by Bacon before 
his going out against the Indians, made an address," &c. 
Jiuik, vol. -J, p. 261. 



tion of the army, and this was the only in- 
stance of capital punishment under his orders, 
nor did he plunder any private house. 

Bacon having now acquired command of 
a province of forty-five thousand inhabitants, 
sate down with his army at Middle Planta- 
tion, (now Williamsburg.) and sent out an 
invitation, signed by himself and four of the 
council, to al! the principal gentlemen of the 
country, to meet him in a convention, at his 
head-quarters, to consult how the Indians 
were to be proceeded against and himself and 
the army protected against the designs of 
Sir William Berkeley. * Bacon also put forth 
a reply to the governor's proclamations. He 
demands whether those who are entirely de- 
voted to the king and country, can deserve 
the name of rebels and traitors? In vindica- 
tion of their loyalty, he points to the peace- 
able conduct of his soldiers and calls upon 
the whole country to witness against him, if 
they can. He reproaches some of the men 
in power with the meanness of their capaci- 
ty ; others with their ill-gotten wealth. He 
enquires what arts, sciences, schools of learn- 
ing or manufactures they had promoted ? he 
justifies his warring against the Indians and 
inveighs against Sir William Berkeley for si- 
ding with them; insisting that the governor 
had no right to interfere with the fur-trade, 
since it was a monopoly of the crown and 
asserting that the governor's factors, on the 
frontier, trafficked in the blood of their coun- 
trymen, by supplying the savages with anus 
and ammunition contrary to law. He con- 
cludes by appealing to the king and parlia- 
ment. 

In compliance with Bacon's invitation, a 
numerous convention, including many of the 
principal men of the colony, assembled it: 
August, 1676. In preparing an oath t<> be 
administered to the people, the three articles 
proposed were read by James Minge, clerk 
of the house of burgesses. 1st, that they 
should aid General Bacon in the Indian war. 
2nd, that they would oppose Sir William 
Berkeley's endeavors to hinder the same. 
3rd, that they would oppose any power sen' 
(tut from England, till terms were agreed to, 
granting that the country's complaint should 

Beverley, B. 1, pp. 74-76. Chalmers' Annals, p. 333, 
Burk, vol. 2, p. 172. Bacon's Proceedings, p. 15, in 1st. 
Force. T. M. says, " Bacoji calls a convention al Middle 
Plantation, 15 miles from Jamestown." 



1676.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



NO 



be heard against Sir William before the king 
and parliament. A " bloody debate" ensued, 
especially on this last article, — lasting from 
noon (ill midnight. Bacon and some of the 
principal men supported it, and he protest- 
ed that without it he should surrender his 
commission to the assembly.* In this con- 
juncture w lien the scales of sejj^fcncc and 
loyaltj seemed in equip- he gunner nt 

York fort" brought sudden i^'.vs of fresh 
murders perpetrated by the Indians in Glou- 
cester county, near Carter's creel';. Bacon 
demanded, : ' how it could be possible that 
the chief fort in Virginia should be threaten- 
ed by the Indians?" The gunner replied, 
• i that the governor, on the day before, had 
conveyed all arms and ammunition out of the 
fori into his own vessel." This disclosure 
produced a deep sensation in the convention, 
and the people now became reconciled to 
the oath. Among the subscribers on this 
occasion, were Colonel Ballard, Colonel 
Beale, Colonel Swan and Squire Bray, all of 
the council, Colonels Jordan, Smith of Pur- 
ton, Scarborough, t Miller, Lawrence, and 
William Drummond. J Writs were iss'ued in 
his majesty's name for an assembly to meet 
on the 4th of September. They were signed 
by the four members of the council. The 
oath vvai administered to the people of every 
rank, except servants. It was as follows: 

" Whereas, the country hath raised i 
my against our common enemy, the Indians, 
and the same under the command of gene- 
ral Bacon, being upon the point to march 
forth against the said common enemy, hath 
been diverted arid necessitated to move to 
the suppressing of forces by evil disposed 
persons, raised againsl the said general Ba- 
con, pur] to foment and stir up 
war among us to the ruin of this his majes- 
ty's country. And whereas, it is notoriously 
manifest thai Sir William Berkley, knight, 
governor of the country, assisted, counselled 
and abetted by those evil disposed persons 
aforesaid, hath not only commanded, fomen- 



* According to "Narrative of Indian and Civil Wars," p. 
18, Bacon eonti rid ate man) 

counted the w isest in I ■ VI iih w h il interesl 

would vw ii ad ii report ol his speech ' Bui Bai oil's - lo 
quence, like lime, 's, lives on!} in i radii ion. 

t This name is spHl Scarsbrook in the " Narrative ol 
Indian and Civil War.->,"S< vas prouahly the name he >ent from the .-aid Xalhaui 

intended. 

He had i i govei n >r of South Carolina 

Bancroft sii| vas a Presbyterian. 



ted and stirred up the people to the said civil 
war, but failing therein hath withdrawn him- 
self to the greal astonishment of the people 
and the unsetllement of the country. And 
whereas, the said army raised by the country 
for the causes aforesaid, remain full of dis- 
satisfaction in the middle of the country, ex- 
pectino- attempts from the said governor and 
ih ! evil counsellors aforesaid- And since no 
proper means have been found out for the 
settlement of the distractions and preventing 
the horrid outrages and murders daily com- 
mitted in many places of the country by the 
barbarous enemy: it bath been thought fit by 
the said general, to call unto him all such 
sober and discreel gentlemen as the present 
circumstances of the country will admit, to 
the Middle Plantation, to consult and advise 
of re-establishing the peace of the country. 
So we, the said gentlemen, being this 3rd 
of August 1676 accordingly met, do advise, 
resolve, declare and conclude and for our- 
- ; 3«do swear in manner following: 

" First. That we will at all times join with 
the said general Bacon and his army against" 
the common enemy in all points whatsoever. 
Secondly : That whereas certain persons 
have lately contrived and designed the rais- 
ing forces against the said general and the 
army under his command, thereby to beget 
a civil war, we will endeavor the discovery 
and apprehending all and every of those 
evil-disposed persons and them secure untill 
further order from the general. Thirdly: 
And whereas it, is credibly reported, that the 
governor hath informed the king's majesty, 
that the said general and the people of the 
country in arms under his command, their 
aiders and abetters are rebellious and remo- 
ved from their allegiance, and that upon such 
[ike information, he the said governor, hath 
advised and petitioned the king to send forces 
to reduce them — we do further declare and 
believe in our consciences that it consists 
with the welfare of this country and with our 
allegiance to his mosl .-acred majesty, that 
we, the inhabitants of Virginia, to the utmost 
of our power do oppose and suppress all for- 
ces whatsoever of that nature, until such time 
as the king be fully informed of the state oi 
the case, by such person or persons as shall 

Bacon, in 
the behalf of the people and the determina- 
tion thereof be remitted hither. And we do 



U 



90 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXV. 



swear that we will him the said general and 
the army under his command aid and assist 
accordingly." * 

Drummond advised that Sir William Berke- 
ley should be deposed and Sir Henry Chich- 
ely substituted in his place. His counsel not 
being approved, " do not make so strange of 
it," said Drummond, "fori can show from 
ancient records that such things have been 
done in Virginia." But it was agreed that 
the governor's retreat should be taken for an 
abdication. Sarah Drummond was not less 
enthusiastic in Bacon's favor, than her hus- 
band. She exclaimed, "The child that is 
unborn shall have cause to rejoice for the 
good that will come by the rising of the coun- 
try." " Should we overcome the governor," 
said Ralph Weldinge, "we must expect a 
greater power from England that would cer- 
tainly be our ruin." Sarah Drummond re- 
membered that England was divided into 
hostile faction.', between the duke of York 
and the duke of Monmouth. Taking fn m 
the ground a small stick and breaking it, she 
added, "I fear the power of England no more 
than a broken straw." Looking for relief 
from the odious navigation act, she declared, 
" now we can build ships and like New Eng- 
land trade to any part of the world." 

Bacon also issued proclamations, com- 
manding all men in the land, upon pain of 
death, to join his standard and upon the ar- 
rival of the troops expected from England, 
to retire into the wilderness and resist the 
troops expected from England until they 
should agree to treat of an accommodation 
of the dispute. 

There was a gentleman in Virginia, Giles 
Bland, only son of John Bland, an eminent 
London merchant, who was personally known 
to the king and had a considerable interest 
at court. As he was sending his son out to 
Virginia to take possession of the estate of 
his uncle, Theodorick Bland, t late of the 

* Bev< rli v. B 1, p. 71. 

f This Theodorick Bland whs sometime a merchant al 
Luars, in Spain, and came over to Virginia in 1654, where, 
sealing al. VVestover, upon James river, in Charles Cit) 
county, he died 23rd April, 1671, aged 41 years, and was 
buried in the chancel of ihe church which he built and gave, 
together with ten acres of land, a court-house a ad prison, 
for the county and parish. He lies buried in the Westovi i 
ehurch-yard between two of his friends, the church having 
lung since fallen down. J !e was "I the king's council and 
speaker of the house of burgesses, and was iii fortune and 
understanding inferior to no man of ins time in the coun- 



councilj lie got him appointed collector-gen- 
eral of the customs. In this capacity he had 
a right to board any vessel whenever he 
thought proper. He was a man of talent, 
courage and a haughty bearing, and having 
quarrelled with the governor now sided warm- 
ly with Bacon. There chanced to be lying 
in York river a vessel of sixteen guns, com- 
manded by "a Captain Laramore. Bland went 
on board of her with a party of armed men, 
under pretence of searching for contraband 
goods and seizing the captain confined him 
in the cabin. Laramore discovering Bland's 
designs, resolved to deceive him in his turn 
and entered into his measures with such ap- 
parent sincerity, that he was restored to the 
command of his vessel. With her, another 
vessel of four guns under Captain Carver, 
and a sloop, Bland now appointed Bacon's 
Lieutenant General, sailed with two hundred 
and fifty men for Accomac. On his passage 
he captured another vessel ; so that he ap- 
peared off Accomac with four sail. The 
governor having not a single vessel to defend 
himself, was overwhelmed with despair. At 
this juncture he received a note from Lara- 
more, offering if he would send him some 
assistance, to deliver Bland with al! his men 
prisoners into his hands. The governor sus- 
picious of Laramore, thought the note only 
a bait to entrap him ; but upon advising with 
his friend, Colonel Philip Ludwell, he coun- 
selled him to accept Laramore's oiler, as the 
best alternative now left him, and gallantly 
undertook to engage in the enterprise at the 
hazard of his life. Sir William Berkeley con- 
senting, Ludwell with twenty-six men well- 
armed, appeared at the appointed time along- 
side of Laramore's vessel. He was prepared 
to receive them, and Ludwell boarded her 

without the loss of a man, and m after 

took the other vessels. Bland, Carver and 
I he other chiefs were sent to the governor, and 
the common men secured on board of the 
vessels. When Laramore waited on the 
governor, he clasped him in his anus, called 
him his deliverer and gave him a large share 
of his favor. In a. few days the brave Carver 
was liangi d on the Accomac Shore. Cap- 
tain Gardner sailing from James river, now 
came to the governor's rebel', with his own 
vessel, the Adam and Eve, and ten or twelve 

try. lie married Ann, daughter of Richard Bennct, some- 
time governor of the colony. Bland Papers, vol. 1, p. 148. 



1676-77. 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



91 



sloops, which he had collected upon hearing 
of Bland's expedition. 

Sir William Berkeley, by this unexp 
tarn of affairs, suddenly raised from the 
of despair to the pinnacle of hope, resolved 
to push his success still further. With Lara- 
more's vessel and Gardner's, together with 
sixteen or seventeen sloops and a n 
band of about six hundred meii in arms, - 
the governor returned in triumph to James- 
town, where tailing on his knees, he returned 
thanks to God, and again proclaimed Bacon 
and his men rebels and traitors. There ivere 
now in Jamestown nine hundred Baconians, 
as they came to be styled, under command of 
Colonel Hansford, commissioned by B 
Berkeley sent in a summons for surrender of 
the town, with offer of pardon to all except 
Drummond and Lawrence. Upon this all of 
them retired to their homes, except Hans- 
ford, Lawrence, Drummond and a few other--, 
who made for the head of York river, in 
quest of Bacon, who had returned to that 
quarter. 

During these events, Bacon was executing 
his designs against the Indians. As soon as 
he had despatched Bland to Accomac, he 
crossed the James river at his own house, at 
Curie's, and surprising the Appomattox In- 
dians, who lived on both sides of the river of 
that name, a little below the falls, (now Pe- 
tersburg,) he burnt their town, killed a large 
number of the tribe and dispersed the rest, f 
Thence he traversed the country to the 1 South- 
ward, destroying many towns on the banks 
of the Nottoway, the Meherrin and the Roan- 
oke. His name had become so formidable, 
that the Indians lied everywhere before him, 
and having nothing to subsist upon, save the 
spontaneous productions of the country, sev- 
eral tribes perished, and they who survived 
were so reduced as to be never afterwards 
able to make anj firm stand against the whites 
and gradually became tributary to them. 

■ Acco ling to Mrs Cotton's Lettpr, one thousand men. 

t Hisrorj ol Bacon's rebel! in Virginia Gazette, f'oi 

1769, Burk, vol. 2, p. 176, places this hattle or massacre 
on Bloody Run, near where Richmond now sin. .Is. Bui 
he refers i • no authority and I think had none better than a 
loose tradition. The Appomattox Indians occupied both 

: vci in question. Now n is all ■ 
bable, that Indians still inhabited the North Bank of the 
James, near Curie's. Besides, if they had, it was unm - 

cessary to cross the James before i 

Curie's was a proper point for crossing with a view of sur- 
prising the Indians on the Appomattox. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 
1676—1877. 

Bacon marches buck upon Jamestown; Berkley's flight ; 
Jamestowai burnt : Bacon dies ; Hansford and others ex- 
ecuted ; Closeof the rebellion ; Proceedings of ihi Court 
Martial; Arrival of an English regiment: The Royal 
Commissioners; Punishments of the rebels; Berkley 
lecalled ; Scccei d< -I l'\ Jeffn ys; Berkley's death ; The 
Qu :en of i'.imimkr;, ; Failure of the New Gharter. 

Bacon having exhausted his provisions had 
dismissed the greater part of his forces be- 
fore Lawrence, Drummond, Hansford and 
the other fugitives from Jamestown joined 
him. Upon learning the governor's return, 
Bacon with a force variously estimated at one 
hundred and fifty, three hundred and eight 
hundred, * marched back upon Jamestown, 
leading his Indian captives in triumph before 
him. He found the town defended by a pali- 
sade, running across the neck of the penin- 
sula. Riding along this work, he reconnoi- 
tred tile governor's position. Then dis- 
mounting from his horse, he animated his 
fatigued men to advance at once, and lead- 
ing them close to the palisade, sounded a 
defiance with the trumpet ami tired upon the 
loyalist garrison. The governor remained 
quiet, hoping that want of provisions would 
force Bacon to retire: but he supplied his 
troop from Sir William's seat at Greenspring, 
i hie- miles distant. lie afterwards com- 
plained that "his dwelling-house, ;.; Green- 
spring, was almost ruined; his household 
and others of great value totally plun- 
dered, that he had not a bed to lye on : two 
great beasts, three hundred sheep, seventy 
and mares, all hi- corn and provisions 
taken away." t Bacon now adopted a sin- 
gular m nd one ha.'diy compatible 
I H tcipli - of chivalry. Sending out 
small parties of horse, he captured the wives 
of all the principal loyalists then with the 
ffovernor and among them the lady ol Col. 
B tcon, Sr., ma lam Braj , madam Page and 
madam Ballard. One of them was sent in- 
to Jamestown to communicate news ol 



* Mis \.;n i '. tton s.i\ s [50, the account in tl 

the km i's cominissioni rs 300 the last pro- 
bably neareal the number. 

i " Answer to the objections against Sir William 
Berkeley," Curk, vol. 2, p. 263. 



92 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXVI. 



capture. * Bacon raised by moonlight a cir- 
cumvallation of trees, earth and brush-wood 
around the governor's outworks. At day- 
break next morning the governor's troops 
being fired upon, made a sortie ; but they 
were driven back, leaving their drum and then- 
dead behind him. Upon the top of the work 
which he had thrown up and where alone a 
sally could be made, Bacon exhibited the 
captive ladies to the view of their husbands 
and friends in the town and kept them there 
until he completed his works. He now 
mounted a small battery of cannon com- 
manding the shipping but not the town. At 
this conjuncture, such was the cowardice of 
Sir William's motley crowd of followers, 
solely intent upon plunder, promised them 
by " his honour," that although superior in 
time, place and numbers, to Bacon's force, — 
yet out of six hundred of them, only twenty 
gentlemen were found willing to stand by 
him. And so great was their fear of discov- 
ery, that in two or three days after the sortie, 
they embarked in the night, secretly weigh- 
ing anchor and dropping silently down the 
river; — thus retreating before an enemy that 
for a week had been exposed to far more 
hardships and privations than themselves. 
For in this very service it was believed Bacon 
contracted the disease which carried him oil', 
by lying during a rainy season in the trenches 
before the town. Sir William carried off 
with him all the inhabitants of the town and 
their goods. At dawn of the next day Ba- 
con entered Jamestown without opposition. 
It being determined that if should be burnt, 
Lawrence and Drummond, who owned two 
of the best houses there, set fire to them in 
the evening with their own hands, and the 
soldiers following the example, laid in ashes 
Jamestown with the church and state-house, 
saying " the rogues shall harbour no more 
here." Sir William Berkeley and his peo- 
ple beheld the flames from the vessels riding 
below, t 

Bacon now marched to York river, which 

* Mis. Con, ,n's Letter. Sec also Col. Lmlwell's I, din- 
in Chalmers' Annals, pp. 319-350. " Ravishing of women 

from their I les ami hurrying them about the country in 

their rude camps, often threaten in;; them with death." Ac- 

c lingto "Narrative of Indian and Civil Wars," Baron 

made use ol the ladies ordy to complete Ins battery and 

removed iliein out of harm's way at the tin I the sortie. 

It is impossible to reconcile the conflict ing statements. 

t T. M's account and Li re via i le and Conclusion. Burlt, 
vol. 2, p. 190. 



he crossed at Tindall's, (now Gloucester) 
Point, in order to encounter Col. Brent, who 
was marching against him from the Potomac 
with twelve hundred men. But the greater 
part of his men hearing of Bacon's success, 
joined his standard, " resolving with the Per- 
sians to go and worship the rising sun." ' 
Bacon now called a convention in Glouces- 
ter, and administered the oath to the people 
of that county and began to plan another ex- 
pedition against the Indians, or, as some re- 
port, against Accomac, when he fell sick of 
a dysentery,! brought on by exposure, and 
retired to the house of a Mr. Pate, in Glou- 
cester, and lingering some weeks, died. \ 
The place of his interment has never been 
discovered. It was concealed by his friends 
lest his remains should be insulted by the 
vindictive Berkeley, in whom old age seems 
not to have mitigated the fury of the pas- 
sions. According to one tradition, Bacon's 
hones were screened from insult by stones 
being laid on his coffin, by his friend Law- 
rence, § as was supposed. According to 
others, it was conjectured that his body had 
been buried in the bosom of the majestic 
York. || 

Upon Bacon's death he was succeeded by 
his Lieutenant General Ingram, (whose real 
ivas Johnson,) who had lately arrived in 
Virginia. Ingram was supported by Wake- 
let, Langston, and Lawrence and their ad- 
herents. They took possession of West 
Point, at the head of York river, fortified it 
and made il their place of arms. If There is 
still extant there a ruinous stone-house, which 
perhaps was occupied by Ingram and his as- 
sociates. As soon as Berkeley heard of Ba- 
con's death, he sent over Robert Beverley, 
with a party in a sloop, to York river, where 
they captured Col. Hansford and some others, 



* Mrs. < lotion's Letti r. 

[ The loyal i si ; ,. ;ninst whose calumny the grave afforded 

no shelter, alleged thai liacon died ol a loathsome diseasi 

by a visitation of Cod. Tins falsehood is disprove/! bj T. 

j 1\1., the history in the Virginia Gazette and by the King's 

commissioners. 

\ Breviarie and Conclusion, and Beverley, I!. 1 , p. "7, 
! say that lie died at the house of a Dr. Green. Burk, vol, 
}, u 19 !, says "at the house of a Doctor Pate." 
. r M's account. 

ml ol B icon's Rebellion in V... Gazette, 1769. 

Point, originally West's Point, so called by tra- 
dition from an early settler of thai name, ol the family ol 

Lord Delaware, in reference to whom the place was at 

i 
one nine loiiiul "the city of Delaware," 



1676-77.1 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



93 



at the house of a Col. Reade, where York- 
t.pwn now is. Hansford was taken to Acco- 
mac, tried and condemned to be hanged. 
He requested " to be shot like a .soldier and 
not hanged like a dog," but was told, "you 
die as a rebel and not as a soldier." He 
was "young, nay and gallant, nursed among 
the forests of the old Dominion; fond of 
amusement, not indifferent to pleasure ; im- 
patient of restraint, keenly sensitive to honor; 
fearless of death and passionately fond of the 
land that gave him birth." * During the short 
respite allowed him, his soul was serene ; he 
professed penitence for all the sins of his 
life : hut refused to admit what was charged 
on him as rebellion to be one of them. His 
last words were, " take notice, I die a loyal 
subject and a lover of my country." He was 
the fust native of Virginia that perished in 
this ignominious form, and in America the 
first martyr to the rights of the people. His 
execution took place on the 13th of Novem- 
ber, 1676. 

Captain Wilford, Captain Farloc, with five 
or six others of less note, suffered in like 
manner with Hansford. Major Cheesman 
died in prison, probably from ill usage. The 
same fate befell several others. 

Sir William Berkeley now repaired to York 
river t and proclaimed a general pardon, ex- 
cepting certain persons named, especially 
Lawrence and Drummond. A party of one 
hundred and twenty despatched by Bet 
to surprise a guard of about thirty men and 
boys, under Major Whaley, at the house of 
Col. Bacon, on Queen's creek, were defeated, 
with the loss of their commander. Major 
Lawrence Smith, with six hundred men, was 
likewise defeated by Ingram, at Col. Pate's 
house. Smith saved himself b} flight; his 
men were all made prisoners. Captain Cou- 
set, with a. party, was sent against Raines, 
who headed the insurgents on the South side 
of .lames river. Raines was killed and his 
men captured. 

Meanu hile [ngram, Wakeh I ami their con- 
federates from West Point, foraged on t!i 



estates of the loyalists with impunity and 
bade defiance to the governor. They defen- 
ded themselves against the assaults of Lud- 
well and others, with such resolution and gal- 
lantry, that Berkeley, fatigued and exhausted, 
at length sent by Captain Grantham, a com- 
plaisant letter to Wakelet, or as some say to 
Ingram, offering an amnesty, on condition 
of surrender. This was agreed to and in 
reward for his submission, Berkeley present- 
ed to Wakelet all the Indian plunder at West 
Point. A court-martial was held on board of 
a vessel in York river, January 11th, 1676-7, 
consisting (if the Right Honorable Sir Wil- 
liam Berkeley, Knt., Governor and Captain 
General of Virginia. Col. Nathaniel Bacon. 
Col. William Claiborne. Col. Thomas Bal- 
lard. Col. Southy Littleton. Col. Philip 
Ludwell. Lieut. Col. John West. Colonel 
Augustine Warner. Major Lawrence Smith. 
Major Robert Beverley. Capt. Anthony Arm- 
istead. Col. Matthew Kemp. Capt. Dan- 
iel Jenifer. Four of the insurgents were con- 
demned by this court. On the 19th of Jan- 
uary, Drummond was taken in the Chicka- 
hominy swamp, half famished. On the 20th 
he was brought in a prisoner to Sir William 
Berkeley, then on board of a vessel at Col. 
Bacon's, on Queen's creek. The governor 
upon hearing of Drummond's arrival, imme- 
diately went, on shore and saluted him with 
a courtly bow, saying, (( Mr. Drummond von 
are ver-y unwelcome ; I am more glad to see 
you than any man in Virginia. Mr. Drum- 
mond you shall be hanged in half an hour." 
Drummond replied, " What your honor plea- 
ses." A court-martial was immediately held 
at the house of .lames Bray, Es<p, whither 
the prisoner was conveyed in irons. lie 
was stripped and a ring, pledge of domestic 
love, torn from his finger b< lore conviction ; 
condemned at one o'clock, he was executed 
on a gibbel at 4. lb' was a sedate Scotch 
gentleman of estimable character, who had 
made himself extremely obnoxious to the 
governor, by the lively con- 



* B anc I ' e e 1 y i n t.h is 

I e, as in sevi ral others, from this learned histoi inn, 

who has In i ii il the pains fo examine our records so long 
V'i nians themselves. 

t T. M and Mrs. Cotton. If we may believe the ac- 
count in ilif Virginia Gazette, Bi rkeley sen] Col. Ludwell 



cern he' had always evinced in th< public 
Grievances. When afterward:; the petition 
of his widow, Sarah Drummond, depicting 
the cruel treatment of her husband, was 
read in i\\r king's council in England, the 
Lord Chancellor Finch said: — •• 1 know not 
whether it be lawful to wish a person , 

with part of his forces to York river, while he with the rest | otherwise j CQU j d ^. [Al gj r William Berkeley 

repaired to Jamestown. 



94 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXVI. 



so, to sec what could be answered to such bar- 
barity ; but he has answered it before this."* 
January 24th, six other insurgents were con- 
demned to death at Greenspring. John 
West was banished for seven years and his 
estate confiscated. Lawrence and four com- 
panions disappeared from the frontier, march- 
ing through the snow. They preferred to 
perish in the wilderness rather than share 
Drummond's fate. Lawrence was educated 
at Oxford, and for wit, learning and sobriety, 
was equalled by few. He had been defraud- 
ed of a handsome estate by the partiality of 
Berkeley towards a corrupt favorite. The 
rebellion, as it was called, was largely attri- 
buted to Lawrence. He had openly avowed 
thathe hoped to find means by which not only 
he should repair his own losses, but see the 
country relieved from the frowardness, ava- 
rice and French despotism of the governor. 
Lawrence had married a wealthy widow, and 
kept a large house of public entertainment 
at Jamestown, which gave him an extensive 
influence. Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., perhaps 
lodged there, and the house was searched for 
him on the morning of his escape. 

On the 29th of January, a fleet arrived from 
England, under command of admiral Sir 
John Berry, with a regiment of soldiers, com- 
manded by Col. Herbert Jeffreys and Col. 
Morryson. These three were joined in a 
commission with Sir William Berkeley to in- 
vestigate the causes of (lie late commotions 
and to restore order. The commissioners 
•>. n instructed to offer a reward of £300 to 
any one who would seize Bacon, and pardon 
to all others who would lake the oath of obe- 
dience and give security for theii 
havior. Freedom was offered to servants 
and slaves who would aid in suppressing the 
revolt, i The general court and the a 
bly having now met, several more of Bacon's 
adherents were' convicted by a civil tribunal 



rrysi n's !.. Iter, Bnrk vol.2, p.SGS. Mrs. Afra Bi hn 
iicd this rebellion in a tragi-eomedy entitled, "the 
Widow Ranter, or the history of Bacon in Virginia." Dry- 
den honored it with a prologue. The plaj faih ! on the 
•i.i :i ..i I ■ : li ihed in 1 000. T! ic i- .1 copy of 11 

in the British Museum, li sets historical truth at defiance 
and is replete with coarse humor and indelicate wit." 
Grahame's Hist. LF. S. vol. I, p. 121 in note, li is possible 
that Sarah I >i mnmond ma; en intended bj the 

" Wi low li. inter." 

f Chalmers' Annuls, p. 336. The same measure had 

bei ii !i. : mthorized by the Long Parliament and was 

resorted to a century afterwards by the Earl of Dunmore. 



and put to death ; — a large part of them were 
men of competent fortune and fair character. 
Among these was Giles Bland, whose friends 
in England, it was reported, had procured 
his pardon, to be sent over with the fleet. 
But it availed him nothing. It was whisper- 
ed that he was executed under private orders 
sent out from England ; the duke of York 
having sworn, " by (rod, Bacon and Bland 
shall die." Bland and Crewes were execu- 
ted at "Bacon's Trench," near Jamestown ; 
four others at Colonel Reade's, (Yorktown,) 
Anthony Arnold in chains at West Point. 
These executions too!-; place in March, 1677. 
The commissioners, who assisted in the 
trials of the prisoners, now proceeded to en- 
quire into the causes of the late distractions.* 
The insurgents had found powerful friends 
among the people of England and in parlia- 
ment. The commissioners discountenanced 
the excesses of Sir William Berkeley and the 
loyalists, and invited the planters in every 
quarter to bring in their grievances without 
fear, t In their zeal for enquiry they forcibly 
seized the journals of the assembly. The 
burgesses, in October, 1677, demanded satis- 
faction for this indignity in language stigma- 
tized by Charles II. as seditious. $ The num- 
ber of persons executed was twenty-two, § 
of whom twelve were condemned by Court- 
Martial. Punishment was carried far beyond 
the demands even of political necessity. 
During eight months Virginia had suffered 
the evils of civil war, devastation, lire, execu- 
tions, and the loss of one hundred thousand 
pounds. || So violent was the effort of na- 
ture to throw-' off the malady of despotism 
and misrule, tn October, Charles [I. issued 
two proclamations, authorizing Berkeley to 
pardon all except Nathaniel Bacon Jr., and 
afterwards another proclamation declaring 
Sir William's of 10th February 1676, not 
conformable to his instructions, in excepting 
others from pardon besides Bacon — and abro- 
gating ii. Yet the king's commissioners as- 
sisted in the condemnation of several of the 

■' The commissioners satp it Swan's Point. 

i See Account in Virginia Gazette. Phe sympathy of 
Jeffrey's with the rebellious Virginians was nol entirely 
disinterested, for he was ah ml to succeed Berkeley m his 

; i i ■ ■• . ; . 

I diners' Introduction, vol. 1., p. ]C3. Chalmers' An- 
nals. 33" 

<ji The commissioners say twenty-three. See account in 
Virginia < lazette. 

II Chalmers' Annals, 335. 



1676-77.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



95 



prisoners. An act of pardon, under the greal 
seal, brought over by Lord Culpepper, was 
unanimously passed by the assembly in June, 
1680, and several persons arc excepted in it 
who were included in Sir William's "bloody 
bill" of Feb., 1677. 

All th" acts of the assembly of June 1676, 
called " Bacon's Laws," were repealed, as 
well by the order and proclamation of Charles 
IL, as also by act of the assembly held at 
Greenspring, Feb. 20, 1677.. t This assem- 
bly passed an act of indemnity and pardon 
excepting from its benefits Nathaniel Bacon 
Jr. and about fifty others, among whom the 
principal were Carver, Drummond, Lawrence, 
Bland, Ingram, Wakelet and Sarah Grindon. 
These wcic attainted. Minor punishments 
were inflicted on others; some were com- 
pelled to sue for pardon on their knees with 
a rope about the neck, others fined, disfran- 
chised or banished. These penalties did not 
meet with the approbation of the people and 
were in several instances evaded by the con- 
nivance of the courts. John Bagwell and 
Thomas Gordon adjudged to appear at Rap- 
pahannock court with halters about their 
necks, were allowed to appear with i im all 
tape. In the same county William Potts in- 
stead of a halter wore a Manchester binding. | 

The assembly in consonance with one of 
Bacon's laws, declared Indian prisoner.-; slaves 
and their property lawful prize. An order 
was made for building a new state-house at 
Tindall's, now Gloucester point, on York 
river. But the order was never carried into 
effect. Many of the acts of this session are 
exact copies of "Bacon's laws," the titles 
alone being altered, Sir William Berkeley and 
the loyalists thus tacitly confessing the abuses 
and usurpations of which they had been guilty 
and the merit- of acts passed by those whom 
they had stigmatised and punished as rebels 
and traitors. § 

Berkeley, w orn out with agitations to which 
his age was unequal and in had health, being 
recalled by the king, ceased to be governor 
On the 27th of April, 1677, and returned in 
the fleet to London, leaving Col. Herbert 
Jeffreys in his place. || Sir William Berke- 

* Hening, vol. 2., pp. 3G6-423-429-430-458-461. 

t Hening, vol. '.3, p. 3G5. 

t I leni'ng, vol. 2, p. 557. 

§ Ibid., vol. '-2, p. 391, in nolo. 

ce on ihe same day. His 
commission bore date Nov. 11,1676. (28 1 11) See 



ley died on the 13th of July, in the same year, 
of a broken heart, " as some relate, without 
ever seeing thi having been confined 

to his chamber from the day of his arrival. 
Charles II. , according to other accounts, ex- 
pressed his approbation of Sir William's con- 
duct in Virginia and the kindest regard for 
him, t and even condescended to make in- 
quiry respecting his health. Others again on 
the contrary report, that the king said of him, 
"that old fool has hanged more men in that 
naked country, than I have done for the mur- 
der of my father." f Sir William Berkel 
was a native of London, and educated at 
Merton College, Oxford, of which he was 
afterwards a fellow, and 1629 was made mas- 
ter of arts. [1630.] He made the tour of 
Europe. He held the place of Governor in 
Virginia from 1639 to 1651, and from 1659 
to 1677 — a period of thirty years, a term 
equalled by no other governor of the colony. 
[1639.] He published a tragi-comedy, " The 
Lost Lady," and 1663, "A Discourse and 
View of Virginia." He was buried at Twick- 
enham. He left no children. He married 
the widow of Samuel Stephens. She, after 
Sir William's death, intermarried with Col. 
Philip Ludwell, but still retained the title of 
"Dame (or Lady) Frances Berkeley." 

During the session of the assembly in June, 
1676, the queen of Pamunkey, a descendant 
of Opechancanough, was introduced into the 
room of the committee on Indian affairs. She 
entered with dignified grace, accompanied 
by an interpreter and her son, a youth of 
twenty years. She wore around her head a 
plait of black and white wampum-peake, § 
three inches wide, after the manner of a 
crown, || and was clothed in a mantle of 

2 Hening, p. 7, In July, 1C75, Lord Culpepper had been 
appointed Governor-in-chief of Virginia, but he did not 
arrive in Virginia nil the beginning ol IC80, 

* Chalmers' Introductory, vol. J, p. 164. 

f Beverley, I!. I , p. 79. 

| T. M.'s account. Grab ime, vol. I, pp. 98 105 ( \mer. 
Ed.) eulogizes Berkley and warmly espouses his eause ; Ins 
estimate ol Bacon is proportionally unfavorable. Perhaps 
id Ibis as in ith ' disputes, the truth lies in the middle. 

') A pu | I ol i I. 

|| In Howe's Historical Collections, p. 470, is a notice 
and engraving ol a silver frontlet with a coal ol arms and 
| " Tin Queen ol Pamunkey," " Charles the sec- 
ond, Kin ' '■• Scotland, France, Ireland, an ! \ ir- 
ginia," and " 1 1 ui mal y pi use." Tins ornament 
was purchased from some Indians and preserved al 
ericksb 

: letter to Governor Hunter tal- 
lies him about n.ai r) ing " the Que en ol Pomunki." tiu ill's 
works, vo 



96 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXVII. 



dressed deer-skin, with the fur outwards and 
bordered with a deep fringe from head to 
foot. Being seated, the chairman asked her, 
"how many men she would lend the English 
for guides and allies?" She referred him to 
her son, who understood English, being the 
reputed son of an English colonel. But he 
declining to answer, she hurst forth in an im- 
passioned speech of a quarter of an hour's 
length, often repeating the words, " Toto- 
potomoi chepiack," that is " Totopotomoi 
dead," referring to her husband, who, with an 
hundred of his men, fell while fighting under 
the elder Col. Edward Hill. The chairman, 
untouched by this appeal, rudely repeated 
the inquiry how many men she would con- 
tribute ? Averting her head with a disdainful 
look she sate silent, till the question being 
pressed a third time, she replied in a low 
tone, "six." But when still further impor- 
tuned, she said " twelve," although she had 
then one hundred and fifty warriors in her 
town. She retired silent and displeased. 

[1675.] The agents of Virginia had warm- 
ly solicited the grant of a new charter and 
their efforts seemed about to be crowned 
with success, when (he news of Bacon's re- 
bellion furnished the government with a pre- 
text for violating its engagements. By the 
reportof the committee lor plantations (adop- 
ted by the king in council and twice ordered 
to be passed into a new charter under the 
great seal,) it was provided, " that no impo- 
sition or taxes shall he laid or imposed upon 
the inhabitants and proprietors there, but by 
the common consent of the governor, coun- 
cil and burgesses, as hath been he ret*) fore 
used," reserving however to parliament the 
right to lay duties upon commodities ship- 
ped from the colony. The news of the re- 
bellion frustrated this scheme ; the promised 
charter slept in the Hamper ' office and the 
one actually sent over was mea re and un- 
satisfactory. 



CHAPTEK XXVII. 
1677-1700. 

Jeffreys succeeded by Sii llenrj Chiehelcy ; Culpepper 
Governor in chiel arrives in li 0; His administration; 
Plant cutting ; Pi rsecnlion ol liobert Beverley ; Cul- 

' I li mi vol 2, p 531 . " Hamper," i. e. Hanaper. 



pepper returns to England; Is displaced; Miscellaneous 
affairs; The Northern Neck; Statistics; James II.; 
Lord Effingham Governor; Prisoners taken at Culloden 
brought to Virginia; Robert Beverley ; Agitators of Vir- 
ginia; Effingham's corruption and tyranny; His depar- 
ture ; Succession of William & Mary ; Nicholson Lieut. 
Governor; ITis popular arts ; Commissary Blah , The 
College of William & Mary; Andros Governor; His 
conduct of affairs; Tyranny ; Sent prisoner to England; 
Nicholson again Governor; Williamsburg becomes the 
Seat of Government. 

Jeffreys, successor of Berkeley, effected a 
treaty of peace with the Indians and held an 
assembly at Middle Plantation. Regulations 
were adopted for the Indian trade and fairs 
appointed for the sale of Indian commodi- 
ties. But the natives being suspicious of in- 
novations, these provisions shortly became 
obsolete. Jeffreys dying [December, 1678,] 
was succeeded by the aged Sir Henry Chich- 
eley appointed deputy governor. Forts were 
now established at the head of the James, 
York, Rappahannock and Potomac, for the 
purpose of ove the Indians on the 

frontier. North Carolina and Maryland were 
prohibited from sending their tobacco to Vir- 
ginia to be shipped. By this impolitic, mea- 
sure all control over the trade of those pro- 
vinces was lost. * 

[July 8th, 1675.] Thomas Lord Culpepper, 
baron of Thorsway had keen appointed gov- 
ernor in chief of Virginia for life. He was 
di posed to look upon the office as a sine- 
cure ; hut being chid in December, 1679, by 
Charles 11. for remaining in England, came 
over to the colony early in lb'80, and was 
sworn into office May 10th. t He found 
Virgini; il. He brought over several 

laws ready drawn up in England, — to be 
passed by the assembly, it bein intended 
to introduce here the modes of Ireland." t 
irdship being invested with full powers 
of pardon, found it easy to obtain from the 
peo] le whatever he asked. After procuring 
the enactmenl of several popular acts, inclu- 
ding one of indemnity and oblivion, he man- 
aged to have the impost of two shillings on 

every hogshead of tobacco made perpetual, 
and instead of being accounted for to the 
assembly as formerly, to be disposed of as his 
majesty might think lit. Culpepper contri- 



* Bevi rley, B. 1. p. BO. 

f Hening, vol 2, p. 8. Ch ilmets' Ann ds, p 340. 
i diners' In trod action, vol. !, p. 164, 



1677-1700.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



97 



ved to enlarge his salary from one thousand 
pounds to upwards of two thousand, besides 
perquisites amounting to eight hundred more. 
Professing a great concern for the interest of 
the colony, he proposed to raise the value of 
silver coin to prevent it from being carried 
out of Virginia. The assembly having ac- 
cordingly prepared a bill for the purpose, his 
lordship insisting that it was the king's pre- 
rogative to alter the coin, issued a proclama- 
tion to that effect and then producing an 
order for disbanding the regiment quartered 
in Virginia, he paid their arrears in the new 
coin, greatly to his own gain. Yet shortly 
after, discovering that the altered currency 
reduced his own perquisites, he restored it 
to its former value. * In August of the same 
year, this unscrupulous governor returned to 
England by way of Boston, f 

Virginia now enjoying profound repose, 
large crops of tobacco were raised and the 
price fell to a low ebb. [1680.] The discon- 
tents of the planters were aggravated by an 
act " for cohabitation and encouragement of 
trade and manufacture," restricting vessels 
to certain prescribed ports, where the gov- 
ernment desired to establish towns. This 
measure obstructed trade, lowered the price 
of tobacco and engendered a genera! disaf- 
fection. In compliance with the petitions 
of several counties, Culpepper, who had by 
the king's order, now returned, called an as- 
sembly together [168-2.] Two sessions end- 
ing in fruitless debates, the male-contents in 
Gloucester, New Kent and Middlesex, [May, 
1682,] proceeded riotously to cut up the to- 
bacco plants in the beds, especially the svt eet- 
scented, which was produced nowhere else. 
Culpepper prevented further waste by patrols 
of horse. The ringleaders were arrested ami 
some of l hem hanged upon a charge of trea- 
son. This together with the enactment of a 
riot-act, making "plant-cutting" high treason, 
put a stop to the practice. } The vengeance 
of the government fell heavily upon Major 
Robert Beverley, clerk of the house of bur- 
gesses, as the chief instigator of these dis- 
turbances. He had incurred the displeasure 
of the governor ami council, by refusino- in 
deliver up to them copii s of the legislative 



* Bevprley, H. 1, p, 

t Bancrolt, vol. 2, \>. 217. 

! Ch ilme i s' A nnal -, i ol. .' pji 



journal, without the permission of the house/ 
Although Beverley had rendered important 
services in suppressing Bacon's rebellion 
and had won the favor of Sir William Berke- 
ley, yet now by his steady adherence to his 
duty, he drew down upon his head unrelent- 
ing persecution. [May, 1682.] he was com- 
mitted a prisoner on board the ship Duke of 
York lying in the Rappahannock, t Ralph 
Wormley, Matthew Kemp and Christopher 
Wormley were directed to seize the records 
in Beverley's possession and to break open 
doors if necessary. Beverley was transfer- 
red from the Duke of York to the Concord 
and a guard set over him. Escaping from the 
custody of the Sheriff at York, the prisoner 
was retaken at his house in Middlesex and 
transported to Northampton on the Eastern 
Shore. Some months after, he applied for a 
writ of habeas corpus, which was refused. In 
a short time, being found at large, he was 
remanded to Northampton. [1683.] New 
charges were brought against him : 1st, that 
he had broken open letters addressed to the 
Secretary's oihee : 2nd, that he had made 
up the journal and inserted his majesty's let- 
ter therein notwithstanding it had been first 
presented at the time of the prorogation : 
3rd that in 1682 he had refused to deliver 
copies of the journal to the Governor and 
council, saving, " he might not do it without 
leave of his masters." 

Culpepper after staying about a year in \ ir- 
ginia returned to England, leaving his kins- 
man, Secretary Spencer, President; but. thus 
again (putting the colony in violation ol his 
orders, he was arrested immediately on his ar- 
rival. Having received presents from the as- 
sembly contrary to his instructions, a jury ol 
Middlesex found that he had forfeited his com- 
mission. And his example having shown, 
that he who acts under independent authori- 
ty, will seldom obey even reasonable com- 
mands, no more governors were appointed 
for life. I 

Lord Culpepper having it in view to pur- 



« Burk, vol. 2, i> 'Jin. 

t lien., vol. 3, \>. ..If ti seq. 

timers' Annals, p. 345 and Introdue., m>I 1. | 105 
Bi rerley B. vol. 1, p. 89 gives a different account. " The 
in xl yeai being 1684 upon the Lord Culpepper refusing to 
i. tnrn, Francis Lord Howard ol Effingham was sent over 
Governor." 



13 



98 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXVII. 



chase the propriety of the Northern Neck 
lying between the Rappahannock and the 
Potomac, — to further his design, had fo- 
mented a dispute between the house of bur- 
gesses and the council. The quarrel run- 
ning high, his lordship procured from the 
king instructions to abolish appeals frqm the 
general court to the assembly and transfer 
them to the crown. Culpepper, however, 
being a man of a strong judgment made 
some salutary amendments in the laws. Du- 
ring his time instead of garrisons, rangers 
were employed in guarding the frontier. 
He was succeeded by Francis Lord How- 
ard of Effingham. His appointment was 
the last act of Charles II. in relation to 
the colony. Effingham was appointed [Au- 
gust, 1683,] commissioned [September 28th,] 
and arriving in Virginia entered upon the 
duties of his office [April 15th, 1684.] On 
the following day the assembly met. It 
passed acts to prevent plant cutting and to 
preserve the peace; to supply the inhabi- 
tants with arms and ammunition ; to re- 
peal the act for encouragement of domestic 
manufactures ; to provide for the better de- 
fence ofthe colony; laying for the first time an 
impost on liquors imported from other Eng- 
lish plantations exempting, however, such as 
were imported by Virginians for their own 
use and in their own vessels. The Bur- 
gesses, in behalf of the inhabitants of the 
Northern Neck, prayed the governor to se- 
cure them by patent in their titles to their 
lands which had been invaded by Culpep- 
per's charter. The governor answered that 
lie was expecting a favorable decision on 
the matter from the king. [May, 1684.] 
Robert Beverley was found guilty of high 
misdemeanors, but judgment being respi- 
ted and the prisoner asking pardon on 
his bended knees, was released upon giv- 
ing security for his good behavior. The 
abjeel terms in which he now sued for par- 
don form a singular contrast to the constan- 
cy of his former resistance, and if is curious 
to find the loyal Beverley, the strenuous par- 
tisan of Berkeley, now the victim of the 
tyranny which he had formerly defended. 
Owing to the incursions of the five na- 
tions upon the frontiers of Virginia, it was 
deemed expedient to treat with them through 
the Governor of New York. For this pur- 
pose the Govprnor of Virginia, leaving the 



administration in the hands of Col. Bacon, 
of the council, and accompanied by two 
other councillors, repaired to Albany [July, 
1684.] There he met Gov. Dongan, of New 
York, the agent of Massachusetts, the mag- 
isl rates of Albany and the chiefs of the war- 
like Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagoes and 
Cayugas. The tomahawk was buried, the 
chain of friendship brightened and the tree 
of peace planted. * 

Culpepper not long after he was displaced, 
purchased the proprietary title to the North- 
ern Neck, which in the 22nd year of Charles 
II. had been granted to Henry Earl of St. 
Albans, John Lord Berkeley, Sir William 
Morton, and John Trethwav. It was as- 
signed to Culpepper in the fourth year of 
James II. with many privileges, on account 
of the loyal services of that family, of which 
the only daughter and heiress married Lord 
Fairfax, who thus .succeeded to that exten- 
sive domain. 

From a statistical account of Virginia as 
reported by Culpepper to the committee of 
the colonies, [December, 1681,] it appears 
that there were at that time forty-one Bur- 
gesses, being two from each of twenty coun- 
ties and one from Jamestown. The coloni- 
al revenue consisted, 1st, of Parish levies, 
" commonly managed by sly cheating fel- 
lows that combine to cheat the public." 
Second : Public levies raised by act of as- 
sembly. Both levies were derived from titha- 
bles or working hands, of which there were 
about 14,000. The cost of collecting this 
part of the revenue was estimated at not less 
than 20 per centum. Third: Two shillings 
per hogshead on tobacco exported, which, 
together with some tonage duties, amounted 
£3000 a year. The county courts held three 
sessions in the year, an appeal lying to the 
governor and council, and from them in ac- 
tions of £300 sterling value, to his majesty; 
in cause- of less consequence to the assem- 
bly. The ecclesiastical affairs of the colony 
were subject to the control of the governor 
who granted probates of wills and had the 
right of presentation to all livings, the ordi- 
nary value of which was ,L'60 per annum, but 
then, owing to the poverty of the country and 
the low price of tobacco, not worth hall' that 
sum. The number of livings was seventy- 

* Burk, vol.2, p. 282. Bancroft, yol. 2, p 255. 



1677-1700.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



99 



six. Lord Culpepper adds : — " and the par- 
ishes, paying the ministers themselves, have 
used to claim the right of presentation, (or 
rather of not paying,) whether the governor 
will or not, which must not be allowed, and 
vet must be managed with great caution." 
There was no fort in Virginia defensible 
against an European enemy, nor any secu- 
rity for ships against a superior sea-force. 
There were, perhaps, 15,000 * fighting men 
in the country. " In relation to our neigh- 
bors : (says his lordship,) Carolina, I mean 
the North part of it,) always was and is the 
sink of America, the refuge of our renaga- 
does and till in better order dangerous to us. 
Maryland is now in a ferment and not only 
troubled with our disease poverty, but in a 
great danger of falling in pieces." The col- 
ony of Virginia wa^ at peace with the In- 
dians, but long experience had taught in re- 
gard to that treacherous race, that when there 
was the least suspicion then was there the 
greatest danger. " But the most ruinous evil 
that afflicted the colony was the extreme low 
price of the sole commodity, tobacco. "For 
the market is overstocked and every crop 
overstocks it more. Our thriving is our un- 
doing, and our buying of blacks hath ex- 
tremely contributed thereto by making more 
tobacco."! The succession of James II. to 
the throne was proclaimed in the Ancient Do- 
minion " with extraordinary joy." The en- 
thusiasm of loyalty was, however, soon low- 
ered, for the first parliament of the new reign 
laid an impost on tobacco. The planters sup- 
plicated James in abject terms to suspend the 
duty imposed on their sole staple. The king 
refused to comply. Nevertheless, on the recep- 
tion of the news of the defeat of the Duke 
of Monmouth, the Virginians sent a congratu- 
latory address to the king. A number of the 
prisoners taken with Monmouth and who 
had escaped the cruelty of Jeffreys were senl 
to Virginia. James instructed Effingham on 
this occasion in the following letter, t 

" James R. 

Right trusty and well-beloved we greet 



* The number of tithables being only 1 1,000, his , 

must have overrated the number of fighting n. The 

actual number of half-armed train-bands in 16 I v 
8,569 Chalmers' Annals, 357. 

Mb. 355-57. 

I Chalmers' A.nna! - 



you well. As it has pleased Cod to de- 
liver into our hands such of our rebellious 
subjects as have taken up arms against us, 
for which traiterous practices some of them 
have suffered death, according to law, so 
we have been graciously pleased to extend 
our mercy to many others by ordering their 
transportation to several parts of our domin- 
ions in America where they are to be kept as 
servants to the inhabitants of the same ; And 
to the end their punishment may in some 
measure answer their crimes, we do think 
tit hereby to signify our pleasure unto you 
our Governor and council of Virginia that 
you take all necessary care that Mich con- 
victed persons as wen. 1 guilty of the late re- 
bellion that shall arrive within that our Col- 
ony whose names arc hereunto annexed be 
kept there and continue to serve their mas- 
ters for the space often years at least. And 
that they be not permitted in any manner to 
redeem themselves by money or otherwise 
until that term be fully expired. And for the 
better effecting hereof you are to frame and 
propose a bill to the assembly of that our 
Colony with such provisions and clauses as 
shall be requisite for this purpose, to which 
you our Governor are to give your assent and 
to transmit the same unto us for our royal 
confirmation. Wherein expecting a ready 
compliance, we bid you heartily farewell, 
(riven at our court at Whitehall the 4th of 
October 1685 in the first year of our reign. 

Sunderland." 

Virginia however made no law conform- 
able to the requisitions of James. The 
assembly met again [1st of October, 1635,] 
and warmly resisting the negative power 
claimed by the governor, was prorogued. It 
met again [6th of November.] Robert Bev- 
erley was again clerk. Strong resolutions 
complaining of the tyranny of the governor 
were passed. He negatived them, and shortly 
alter appearing suddenly in the House, pro- 
ro rued it ao-ain to the 20th of October, 1686. 
James II., strongly resenting these demo- 
cratical proceedings of the Virginia assem- 
bly, ordered their dissolution, and that Robert 
' : : iverley should be disfranchised and prose- 
cuted ' and directed that, in future the ap- 



* rlening, vol. 3, pp. 10 II. Francis Page was accord- 
ingly appointed rink by the governoi | Vpril 3l . I I ■ | 

- i llso Hi ■ " I . 



100 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXVII. 



pointment of the clerk of the house of bur- 
gesses should be made by the governor. 
Several persons were punished about this 
time for seditious and treasonable conduct. 
[12th of May, 1687,] the assembly was dissol- 
ved. In the Spring of 1687, Robert Beverley 
died the victim of tyranny and martyr of con- 
stitutional liberty. Long a distinguished loy- 
alist, he lived to become still more distin- 
guished as a patriot. It is thus that in human 
inconsistency extremes meet. 

The English merchants engaged in the 
tobacco-trade, in August 1687 complained 
to the committee of the colonies of the mis- 
chiefs consequent upon the exportation of 
tobacco in bulk. The committee advised the 
assembly of Virginia to prohibit this practice. 
The assembly refused compliance, but the 
regulation was subsequently established by 
parliament. During this year a meditated in- 
surrection of the blacks was discovered in the 
Northern Neck, just in time to prevent its ex- 
plosion. [November 10th, 1687,] A message 
had been received from the governor of New 
York, communicating the king's instructions 
to him, to build forts for the defence of that 
colony, and the king's desire that Virginia 
should contribute to that object, as being for 
the common defence of the colonies. This 
project of James II., it was suspected, ori- 
ginated in his own proprietary interest in 
New York. The Virginians replied that the 
Indians might invade Virginia without pass- 
ing within a hundred miles of those forts, and 
-the contribution was refused. 

James II. was now incorrigibly bent upon 
introducing absolute despotism and popery 
into England. In Virginia the council dis- 
played an abject servility. Upon the dis- 
solution of the assembly, Virginia was agita- 
ted with apprehension and alarm. Rumors 
were circulated of terrible plots, now of th ■ 
papists, then of the Indians. The county 
of Stafford was inflamed by the bold harangues 
of John Waugh, a preacher of the established 
church. Three councillors were despatched 
to allay the commotions. Part of Rappa- 
hannock county was in arms. Col. John 
Scarborough of the Eastern Shore was pros- 
ecuted, for saying to the governor, thai "his 
majesty, king James, would wear out the 
church of England ; for thai when lucre 
were any vacant offices, he supplied them 



with men of a different persuasion." Scar- 
borough however was discharged by the coun- 
cil. Others were prosecuted and imprisoned 
and James Collins put in irons for treasona- 
ble words against the king. 

Effingham no less avaricious and unscru- 
pulous than his predecessor Culpepper, by 
his extortions, usurpations and tyranny arous- 
ed a general spirit of disgust and indigna- 
tion. He prorogued and dissolved the as- 
sembly ; he erected a new court of chance- 
ry, making himself a petty Lord Chancellor; 
he multiplied fees and stooped to share them 
with the clerks, and silenced the victims 
of his extortions by arbitrary imprisonment. 
At length the complaints of Virginia hat- 
ing reached England, Effingham embarked, 
[1688,] for that country, and the assembly 
despatched Col. Ludwell to lay their grievan- 
ces before the government. Before they 
reached the mother country however, the 
Revolution had taken place and James II. 
had ceased to reign. * 

James II. closed a short and inglorious 
reign by abdicating the crown. William and 
Mary had been several months seated on the 
throne before they were proclaimed in Vir- 
ginia. The delay was owing to re-iterated 
pledges of fealty made by the council to 
James and from an apprehension that he 
might be restored to the kingdom. At length 
in compliance with repeated commands of 
the privy council, William III. and Mary 
were proclaimed Lord and Lady of Virginia, 
[April, 1689.] This glorious event dispelled 
the clouds of discontent and inspired the 
people of the colony with sincere joy. For 
about seventy years Virginia had been sub- 
ject to the house of Stuart and there was lit- 
tle in the retrospect to awaken regret at their 
downfall. They had cramped trade by mo- 
nopolies and restrictions: lavished vast bo- 
dies of hind on their minions; and often 
entrusted the reins of power to incompetent, 
corrupl and tyrannical governors. When 
Lord Howard, of Effingham, returned to 
England, he had left the administration in 
the hands of Col. Bacon, president. Upon 
the accession of William and Mary, Eng- 
land being on the eve of a war with France, 
the president and council of Virginia were 



• Chalmers' Annals, p. 347. Grahame, vol. ~, ;>. 108. 
See also Burk, vol. 2, p. 304. 



1677-1700.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



101 



directed by the duke of Shrewsbury to put 
the colony in a posture of defence. 

Col. Philip Ludwell who had been sent 
out as agent of the colony, to prefer com- 
plaints against Lord Howard of Effingham, 
before the privy council, now at length ob- 
tained a decision in some points rather favor- 
able to the colony ; but the question of pre- 
rogative was determined in favor of the crown, 
and it was declared that an act of 16S0 was 
revived by the king's disallowing the act of 
repeal. Bacon's administration was short ; 
he had now attained a very advanced age. 
In his time the project of a college was re- 
newed, but not carried into effect. ' 

[lb'90.] Lord Effingham being still absent 
from Virginia, on the plea of ill health, Fran- 
cis Nicholson who had been driven from New 
York by a popular outbreak, came over as 
lieutenant governor. He found the colony 
inflamed with disaffection and ready for re- 
volt. The people were indignant at seeing 
Effingham still retained in the office of gov- 
ernor-in-chief, believing that Nicholson would 
become his tool. The revolution in England 
seemed as yet to be productive of no amend- 
ment in the colonial administration. How- 
ever Nicholson now courted popularity. He 
instituted athletic games and offered prizes to 
those who should excel in riding, running, 
shooting, wrestling and fencing. He pro- 
posed the establishment of a post-office. He 
recommended the erection of a college; but 
refused to call an assembly to further the 
scheme, being under obligations to Effing- 
ham, to stave off assemblies as long as pos- 
sible, for tear of complaints being renewed 
against his arbitrary administration.! How- 
ever, Nicholson and the council headed 
a private subscription and twenty-live hun- 
dred pounds were raised, part of this sum 
being contributed by some London mer- 
chants. The new governor made a " pro- 
gress" through the colony, mingling freel) 
with the people. He carried his indulgence 



* Beverley, li. 1, p. 91. Presidenl Bacon resided in 
York county. He married Elizabeth, daughter ol Richard 
Kingsmill, Esq., of James ( lily county. Leaving no < hil- 
dren, by bis will, he gave his estati s to bis niece, Abigail 
Burwell, — his riding-horse, Watt, to Lad) Berkli y, al thai 
time w ife ol ( !ol. Philip Ludw ell. Pr< sidenl Bi c 
March 16th, 1692, in bis 73rd year, and lies buried on 
King's Creek. See communication in Farmers' R 
vol. for 1839, pp. 407-408, citing James City Records. 

f Beverley, B. I. p. 92. 



to the common people so far, as frequently 
to suffer them to enter the room where he 
was entertaining company at dinner and di- 
verted himself with their scrambling amongsl 
one another and carrying off the victuals 
from the table. There is but one step from 
the courtier to the demagogue. 

When Nicholson entered on the duties of 
governor, Rev. James Blair, newly appointed 
commissary for Va., assumed the supervision 
of the churches in the colony. The same 
functions had been previously discharged by 
the Rev. Mr. Temple, but he was not regu- 
larly commissioned. When the assembly 
met, [1691,] they entered heartily into the 
scheme of a college. Blair was despatched 
with an address to their majesties, William 
and Mary, soliciting a charter for the college. 
Their majesties not only granted the charter, 
but gave the college two thousand pounds.* 
besides endowing it with twenty thousand 
acres of land, the patronage of the office of 
surveyor general, together with the revenue 
arising from a duty of one penny a pound 
on all tobacco exported from Virginia and 
Maryland to the other plantations. The col- 
lege was also allowed to return a burgess to 
the assembly. The assembly afterwards add- 
ed a duty on skins and furs. Dr. Blair was 
the first president of the college, t 

[1692.] The office of treasurer was crea- 



* " Seymour, the English Attorney General, havii i 
ceived the royal commands, to prepare the charter of the 
college, which v\as to be accompanied with a grant ot 
£2,000, remonstrated against this liberality, urging that the 
nation was engaged in an expensive war, thai the mone) 
was wanted for better purposes and that In did not see the 
slightest occasion for a college in Virginia. Blair, (the 
Commissary for tin 1 Bishop of London in Virginia,) repre- 
sented to him, thai its intention was to educate and qualify 
young men to be ministers ol the gospel and begged Mr. 
Attorney would consider thai the people ol Virginia had 
souls to be saved as well as the people of England. 
'Souls! (said he) damn your souls!— make tobacco.'" 
Franklin's Correspondence, cited by Grahame's Hist. U. 
S., vol. I, p. 109, in note. 

t The plan of the College was the composition of Sir 
Christopher Wren. "There v a commencement at 
Willi-im .Hid Mar) College in theyeai 1700,al whii 
was a great concourse ol people; several planters came 
thither in their coaches and several in sloops, from New 
York, Pennsylvania and .Man I ind ; ii being a new I 
America to hear graduates perform their academical < xer- 
eises. The Indians themselves had the curiosity to come 
to Williamsburg on tins occasion; and the whole i 

. as il they had some relish of learning." < lldmixon. 
i .os before, there had bei n cell bi ated a com- 
mencement ai Harvard, in Massachusetts. See Grahame, 
p ;">, in note. 



102 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXVIII. 



ted in Virginia and Colonel Edward Hill re- 
ceived the first appointment to it. 

In this year Nicholson was succeeded by 
Sir Edmund Andros, whose high-handed 
course had rendered him so odious to the 
people of New England that they had lately 
imprisoned him. He was nevertheless kind- 
ly received by Virginia, whose solicitations 
to king William for warlike stores, had been 
successfully promoted by him. But he soon 
gave offence by an order to hire vessels to 
cruise against illegal- traders. However the 
assembly yielded to his importunities five 
hundred pounds in aid of New York. Four 
companies of rangers protected the frontiers; 
while English frigates guarded the coast. 
The colony enjoyed long repose. Andros 
took singular pains in arranging and preser- 
ving the public records, and when, [1698,] 
the state-house was burnt, he caused the 
papers that survived the .fire, to be arranged 
with more exactness than before. He or- 
dered all the English Statutes to be law in 
Virginia. This preposterous rule gave great 
dissatisfaction. He was a patron of manu- 
factures ; but the acts for establishing fullino- 
mills were rejected by the board of trade. 
He encouraged the culture of cotton ; which 
however fell into disuse. At length his cor- 
ruption and tyranny so provoked the Virgi- 
nians, that they sent him a prisoner to Eng- 
land, with heavy charges against him. 

[November, 1698.] Nicholson was trans- 
ferred from Maryland, where his administra- 
tion was judicious, to be again governor of 
Virginia. He entertained a plan of confed- 
erating the colonies and aspired to become 
himself the viceroy of the contemplated 
Union. Finding himself thwarted in these 
projects, his conduct was self-willed and 
overbearing. In a memorial sent to Eng- 
land, he slated that tobacco bore so low a 
price as noi to yield clothes to the planters: 
yet in the same paper advised parliament to 
prohibit the plantations from making their 
own clothing : in other words, proposing thai 
h< i i! I be left to go naked. - For the 
sake of a healthier .situation, he removed 
the seal of government from Jamestown, 
now containing only three or four good 
inhabited houses, to Middle Plantation, 
so called from it.s lying midway b- 

■ Bevi rley, B. I, p ! 



James and York rivers. Here he projec- 
ted a large town, laying out the streets 
in the form of a W and M in honor of 
William and Mary. This plan was how- 
ever afterwards abandoned. The new capi- 
ta! was called Williamsburg after the king.* 
Nicholson also built the capitol at one end 
of the Duke of Gloucester street ; the col- 
lege being at the opposite end. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

1700—1723. 

Nicholson's tyrannical conduct; Capture of a Piratical 
vessel; William III. dies and is succeeded by Anne; 
Nicholson's complaints against the colony; He is recall- 
ed; Settlement of Huguenots in Virginia; The Church; 
EdwardNott Governor; Succeeded by Jennings; Hunter; 
Alexander Spotswood Lieut. Governor; His early histo- 
ry ; Dissolves the Assembly ; Assists North Carolina ; 
Rigid economy of Virginia; The Church establishment ; 
Sjiotswood's tramontane expedition; Condition of Vir- 
ginia at the accession of George I. ; Spotswood's alter- 
cations with the legislature; Theach the Pirate; Com- 
plaints against Spotswood; Harmony restored; Spots- 
wood displaced ; His character. 

If we are to credit the accounts of a con- 
temporary writer, Beverley, Nicholson de- 
clared openly to the lower order of people : 
" that the gentlemen imposed upon them ; — 
that the servants had all been kidnapped and 
had a lawful action against their masters." 
[1700.] Mr. Fowler, the king's attorney-gen- 
eral, declaring some piece of service against 
law, the governor seized him by the collar 
and swore, " that he knew no laws they had 
and that his commands should be obeyed 
without hesitation or reserve." He commit- 
ted gentlemen who offended him to prison, 
without any complaint and refused to allow 
bail, and some of them having intimated to 
him, thai such proceedings were illegal, he 
replied, " that they had no right at all to the 
liberties of English subjects, and that he 
would hang up those that should presume to 
oppose him, with magna charta about their 
necks." lie often extolled the governments 
of Fez and Morocco, and at a meeting of the 

+ Hugh Jones' Presi nl Si ite of Virginia 



1700-23. 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



103 



governors of the college, told them "that he 
knew" how to govern the Moors and would 
beat them into better manners.".' At another 
time he avowed that he knew how to govern 
the country without assemblies and if they 
should deny him anything, after he had ob- 
tained astanding army, " he would bring them 
to reason with halters about their necks." 
His outrages, (says Beverle} ,) made him jeal- 
ous, and to prevent complaints being sent to 
England against him, he intercepted letters, 
employed spies and even played the eves- 
dropper himself. He sometimes held inquis- 
itorial courts to find grounds of accusation 
against such as incurred his displeasure. * 
Such are the allegations against Nicholson. 
Yet some allowance may safely be made for 
prejudice, some for the exaggerations of idle 
rumor. The accusations have reached us, 
but not the defence, t 

In the second year of Nicholson's admin- 
istration a piratical vessel was captured within 
the capes of Virginia. The pirate had taken 
some merchant vessels in Lynhaven bay. A 
small vessel happening to witness an engage- 
ment between the Corsair and a Merchant- 
man, conveyed intelligence of it to the Sho- 
ram, a fifth-rate man-of-war, commanded by 
Captain Passenger and newly arrived. Nich- 
olson chanced to be atKiquotan, (Hampton,) 
sealing up his letters and going on board the 
Shoram, was present in the engagement that 
followed. The Shoram by day-break having 
got in between the capes and the pirate, in- 
tercepted her and an action took place. 
[April 29, 1700, J lasting ten hours, when the 
pirate surrendered upon condition of beino- 
referred to the king's mercy. In this affair 



* Beverley, B. 1, pp. 97-102. 

+ Robert Beverley author of a History of Virginia, pub- 
lished the first edition "1 thai work [ 170."'.] li is na 
the persecuted clerk, died [1687.] it is probable that the 
historian was a relative of the clerk. In the preface in his 
second edition, published | i 722,] lie says, " My first busi- 
ness in the world, bi the public records of my 
country," &c. hi the same year, [1722,] an Abridgment 
ol the Laws of Virginia ascribed to him, was publi 
London, (See 1. Hening, p. 5.) If the historian was so 
related to the clerk, it may account in part lor Ins acrimon} 
againsl C ind Effingham, who had persecuted his 
namesake and kinsman, a Nichol m, who was 
Effingham's deputy. In his see. mil edition, whi n time I ml 
nut igated his animositii , 1 rlfj omitted mani 
accusations against the.se governors. In favor of Nichol- 
son it is to be observed that his administration was more 
satisfactory in Maryland ami in South Carolin t. 1 
in \ ii ginia w as probably not all on hi 



fell Peter Heyman, grandson of Sir Peter 
Heyman of Summi rfield, in the county of 
Kent, England. Being collector ol' the cus- 
toms in the lower district of James River, he 
volunteered to go on board the Shoram on 
this occasion, and after behaving with un- 
daunted courage for seven hours, standing 
on the quarter deck near the governor, was 
killed by a small shot. 

[March, 1702.] William III. died. His 
manner was cold ami reserved, his genius 
military, bis decision indexible. In bis fond- 
ness of prerogative power he showed him- 
self the grandson of the first Charles ; as 
the defender of the protectant religion and 
prince of Orange, he displayed toleration to 
all except papists. The government of Vir- 
ginia under him was not materially impro- 
ved, lie was succeeded by Anne, daughter 
of James II. Louis XIV. having recognized 
the Pretender as lawful heir to the British 
crown, Anne, shortly after she succeeded to 
the throne, [1702.] declared war against 
France and its ally Spain. Virginia was but 
little affected by the long conflict that en- 
sued. 

Nicholson, in a memorial to the council of 
trade, described the people of Virginia as 
numerous, rich and of republican principles, 
such as ought to be lowered in time ; — that 
then or never was the time to maintain the 
queen's prerogative and put a stop to those 
pernicious notions, which were increasing 
daily, not only in Virginia, but in all her 
majesty's other governments, and that a 
frown from her majesty now would do more 
than an army thereafter. And he insisted 
on the necessity of a standing army. 
[1701.] Colonel Quarry, surveyor-general of 
the Customs, wrote to the board of trade 
that " this malignant humor is no! confined 
to Virginia, formerl} the most remarkable 
for loyalty, but is universally diffused." At 
length upon complaint of Commissary Blair, 
and six of the council, .Nicholson was recall- 

[1705.] 
Col. Nicholson, before entering on tin; 
government of Virginia had been Lieutenant 
Governor of New iTork under Andros, and 
afterwards ai the head of the administration 
from 1687 to 1689, when he was expelled by 
a popular tumult. From 1690 to 16 
was Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. 

• Bev< iay, B. 1, p 104. 



104 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXVIII. 



1694 to 1699 he held the government of Ma 
ryland, where with the zealous assistance of 
Commissary Bray, he busied himself in es- 
tablishing episcopacy. Returning to the 
government of Virginia, he remained till 
1705. [1710.] He was appointed General 
and commander-in-chief of the forces sent 
against Fort Royal in Acadia which was 
surrendered to him. [1711.] He headed 
the land force of another expedition, direct- 
ed against the French in Canada. The na- 
val force on this occasion was commanded 
by the imbecile brigadier Hill. The enter- 
prise was corrupt in its purpose, feeble and 
unfortunate in its conduct, and abortive in 
its result. This failure was attributable to 
the mismanagement and inefficiency of the 
fleet. [1713.] Nicholson was governor of 
Nova Scotia. Having received the honor of 
knighthood, Sir Francis Nicholson, [1720,] 
was appointed governor of South Carolina, 
where during four years he conducted him- 
self " with a judicious and spirited attention 
to the public welfare, which proved highly 
grateful to the inhabitants, and honorably 
brightened the closing scene of his political 
life in America. The intriguing politician 
seemed now to be lost in the eager, busy and 
ostentatious patron of public improvement, 
and the distinction which he formerly court- 
ed from an enlargement of his authority, he 
was now contented to derive from a liberal 
a popular exercise of it. He promoted the 
establishment of schools and tiic spread of 
education, contributing his own time and 
money in aid of these useful purposes, and 
he prevailed with the English society for pro- 
pagating the Gospel, to send a number of 
clergymen to the province and endow them 
with liberal salaries in addition to the pro- 
vincial stipends." He concluded a treaty of 
peace with the powerful Indian tribe called 
the Creeks, and by presents and flattering 
attentions, gained the friendship of the still 
more powerful Cherokees. ' : Returning to 
England, June 1725, he died at London, 
March 5, L728. He was " an adept in colo- 
nial governments, trained by experience in 
New York, in Virginia, in Maryland; brave 
and not penurious, but narrow ami irascible; 
of loose morality, yel a fervenl supporter of 
the church." t 

' < oali. line. ArilPrii an Edit j 

| Bancroft, vol 2, p. 82. 



Upon the revocation of the edict of Nan- 
tes, by Lewis XIV., [1685,] more than half a 
million of French protestants, called Hugue- 
nots, fled from the jaws of persecution to 
foreign countries. About forty thousand 
sought refuge in England. [1690.] King 
William III., sent over a number of them to 
Virginia, and lands were allotted to them on 
James River. During the year 1699, anoth- 
er body of them came over, conducted by 
their clergyman Philippe de Richebourg. * 
Others followed in succeeding years. The 
larger part of them settled at Manakin, (Mon- 
acal!,) town, on the South bank of the James, 
about twenty miles above the falls, on rich 
lands, formerly occupied by the Monacan 
Indians. The rest dispersed themselves over 
the country; — some on the James, some on 
the Rappahannock. The settlement at Man- 
akin town was erected into the parish of 
King William in the county of Henrico and 
exempted from taxation for many years, t 
The refugees received from the king and the 
assembly large donations of money and pro- 
visions and found in Col. William Byrd, of 
Westover, a generous benefactor. Each 
settler was allowed a stripe of land running 
back from the river to the foot of the hill. 
Here they raised cattle ; undertook to do- 
mesticate the buffalo ; manufactured cloth 
and made claret wine from wild grapes. 
Their settlement extended about four miles 
along the river. In the centre they built a 
church. They conducted their worship after 
the German manner, and the surrounding 
woods echoed their melodious hymns. They 
repeated family worship three times a day. 
Manakin town was then on the frontier and 
there was no oilier settlement nearer than 
the fills ; yet the Indians never mole; led 
these pious refugees. There was no mill 
i r than the mouth of Falling Creek, : 
twenty miles distant, and f lie Huguenots hav- 
ing no horses, were obliged to carry their 
com on their backs to the mill. Many ami- 
able ami respectable families of Virginia are 
descended from these Huguenots, among 
(hem tin' Maurys, Fontaines, Dupuys, Lacys, 
Munfords, Flournoys, Duval's, Guerants, Bon- 

* Martin's History of North Carolina, p. 232 and Hawk's, 
p. 78, et seq. Grahanie. American Edition, vol. 2, p 

History of the Presbyu rian Ch in h, Part 1, p. 51. 

1 Hi niii ■. \ •!. ::, v . 201. 

t V\ hich empties int< les below the 

falls -I that nw r. 



1700-23.1 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



105 



durantsandTrents. [1702.] There were twenty 
nine counties in Virginia and forty-nine par- 
ishes; of which thirty four were supplied with 
ministers, fifteen vacant In each parish was 
a church of timber, brick or stone ; in the larger 
parishes one or two chapels of ease ; so that 
the whole number of places of worship for 
a population of 60,000 was about 70. In 
every parish a dwelling-house was provided 
for the minister, with a glebe of 250 acres of 
land and sometimes a few negroes or a small 
stock of cattle. The salary of 16,000 pounds 
of tobacco was in ordinary quality equiva- 
lent to i£S0 ; in sweet-scented to £160. It 
required the labor of twelve negroes to pro- 
duce this amount. Then 1 were in Eastern 
Virginia three Quaker congregations, and as 
many Presbyterian. * 

[1699.] A penalty of five shillings was im- 
posed on such persons as should not attend 



* Two in Accomac under the care ol Rev. Fran is Ma- 
kernie— the other on Elizabeth river. " Ii seems r rom 
Commissary Blair's report on the state of the church in 
Virginia, that it existed before the commencement ol tin 
last century. From the fad of Mr. Makemie's directing in 
his will that his dwelling-house and lot on Elizabeth river 
should be sold, it lias been inferred that he-had resided there 
before he moved to the opposite side of the Chesapeake, 
and that the church in question was gathered by him. If 
so, it must have been formed, before 1G90 ; for at that time 
Mr. Makemie wis residing on the Eastern £hore. Others 
have supposed that the congregation was composed of a 
small company of Scotch emigrants, whose 'descendants 

are still to be found in the neighb hood of Norfolk." 

[171(1 ] In a letter written by the Presbytery of Philadel- 
phia to that ol Dublin, it issaid, " In all Virginia we have 
one small congregation on Elizabeth river, and some few 
families favoring our way in Rappahannock and York." 

[1712 | Rev. John Ma.ky Was the pasloi ol the Elizabeth 

river congregation. Hodge's History of the Presbyterian 
church, Part 1st, pp. 76-77. 

"The Rev. Francis Makemie, who is often spoken of as 
the father of our church, was settled in Accomac county, 
\ 11 1 ail, anterior to th^ year 1690, when lus name first ap- 
pears upon the county records. According to some ac- 
counts, he was a native of Scotland; according to Mr. 
Sp< nee, of the North of Ireland. Mr. Spence thinks that 
he was ordained by the Presbytery of Donegal. It. is cer- 
tain, however, that he came to this country an ordained 
minister and v\as "in principle and upon conviction a 

thorough Presbyterian." He is represented as having been 
"a venerable an I imposing character, distinguished for 
piety, learning and much steady resolution and persever- 
ance." His successful labors on the Eastern Shore ol 
Maryland, bis imprisonment in New York for preaching in 
that city, and his able defence upon his trial, are familiarly 
known to the public. He died in L708, leaving a large es- 
tate." Ibid, pp. 88-89. "Makemie's Tryal," may be seen 
in 1 Force. Makemie, at the tune of Ins trial, was a resi- 
dent of Accomac, in Virginia. The "Tryal," p. 50, eon- 
tains a copy of a license to preach "at his own house at 
Accomack-lown and his dwelling-house at Pocamock." 
This license was procured October 10th 1699 from the 
county court of Accomac. 



the parish church once in two months. Dis- 
senters qualified according to the Toleration 
Act of the first year of William and Mary, 
were exempted from this penalty, provided 
they should attend " at any congregation or 
place of religious worship permitted and al- 
lowed by the said act of Parliament once in 
two months." * 

Many of the ministers sent out from Eng- 
land were incompetent; some profligate. 
Religion .slumbered in languor. Altercations 
between minister and people were not untre- 
quent. Sometimes an exemplary pastor was 
removed from mercenary motives, or on ac- 
count of his faithful discharge of his duties. 
More frequently the unfit were retained by 
popular indifference. The clergy in effect, 
did not enjoy that permanent independency 
of the people, which properly belongs to a 
hierarchy. The vestry " thought themselves 
the parson's master," and the clergy deplor- 
ed the precarious tenure of their livings. 
The Commissary's powers were few and lim- 
ited ; — he was but the shadow of a bishop. 
He could not Ordain, nor confirm; he could 
not depose a minister. Yet the people, most 
jealous of ecclesiastical tyranny, watched his 
movements with a vigilant and suspicious 
eye. The church in Virginia was destitute 
of an effective discipline, t 

[1705.] Appeared the first American news- 
paper, " The Boston News-Letter." [Au- 
gust, 1705,] Edward Nott came over to Vir- 
ginia, lieutenant governor, under George, 
earl of Orkney, who had been made governor- 
in-chief. From this time the office of gov- 
ernor-in-chief became a pensionary sinecure, 
enjoyed by one residing in England and who 
out of a salary of two thousand pounds a 
year, received twelve hundred. The Earl oi 
Orkney enjoyed this revenue for forty years. 



* 3 Ilenuvj, p. 171. The following is Hennm's note on 

this law: — "This is the first notici taken by the laws ol 
Virginia ol the toleration act, as n is called in England, ol 
1. William and Mary. It is surely an abuse ol terms, to 

call a law a toleration <i I , winch imposes a religious test on 

the conscience, in order to avoid the penalties ol anothei 
law equally violating every principle of religious freedom. 
The provisions ol this act may be seen in the 4th volume 
of Blaekstone's Commentaries, page 53. Nothing could 
be more intolerant than to impose the penalties bj this net 
prescribed foi not repairing to church, and then to hold out 

the idea of exempt ion, by a compliance with the provisions 
of such a law as the Statute ol 1. William and Mary, adop- 
ted by a mere general reference — when nol one person in a 
thousand could possibly know its contents." 
t Hawks, chap. 5. Beverley, B. 4, p. 26. 



14 



106 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXVIII- 



Nott was a mild, benevolent man, but did not 
survive long enough to realize what the peo- 
ple hoped from his administration. In the 
fall, after his arrival, he called an assembly, 
which at length concluded a general revisal 
of the laws that had been long in hand. Some 
salutary acts went into operation, but those 
relating to the church and clergy proving un- 
acceptable to the Commissary, as encroach- 
ing on the sacred confines of prerogative, 
were suspended by the governor and thus fell 
through. Nott procured the passage of an 
act providing for the building of a palace for 
the governor. This assembly passed a new 
act for the establishment of Ports and Towns ; 
" grounding it only upon encouragements 
according to her majesty's letter," but the 
Virginia merchants of England complaining 
against it, this act also failed. In the first 
year of Nott's administration, the college of 
William and Mary was burnt down. He died 
[August, 1706.] 

His successor, Edward Jennings, president 
of the council, was a man of strong passions, 
but singular integrity. His zeal for the 
church and the crown was excessive. He 
evinced a contempt for wealth and perform- 
ed many generous acts ; which however his 
enemies attributed to vanity. During his 
time, excepting an alarm from French priva- 
teers hovering on the coast, quiet reigned in 
Virginia. 

[1708.] Robert Hunter, a scholar and wit, 
friend of Addison and Swift, was appointed 
lieutenant governor of Virginia; but was 
captured on the voyage by the French. 
[1710.] He became governor of New York 
and the Jerseys. 

[1710.] Colonel Alexander Spotswood was 
sent over as lieutenant governor under the 
Earl of Orkney. * Colonel Spotswood was 
born at Tangier, in Africa, on board of a 
man-of-war, his father being a commander 
in the British navy. Alexander Spotswood 
was bred in the army from his childhood. 
Blending genius with industry, he seldom 
failed in any of his undertakings. He ser- 
ved with distinction under the duke of Marl- 
borough, \ and was dangerously wounded in 
the breast at the battle of Blenheim. } 

* Chalmers' Introduction, vol. I, p. 394, and Keith, p. 173. 

f •' He was in the habit ol shewing to his guests a (our 
pound ball that struck his coat " Burk, vol. 3, p. 102, in note. 

t It is in allusion to this that Blenheim castle is repre- 
sented in the background of Spotswood's portrait. Tin re 



Spotswood was received with acclamations 
in Virginia, because he brought with him the 
right of Habeas Corpus, a. right guaranteed 
to every Englishman by Magna Charta, but 
hitherto denied to Virginians. [1711.] The 
new governor wrote to England: — "This 
government is in perfect peace and tranquil- 
lity, under a due obedience to the royal au- 
thority and a gentlemanly conformity to the 
church of England." * Shortly after, how- 
ever, upon a threat of a French invasion, the 
assembly would only agree to raise twenty 
thousand pounds by taxes laid chiefly on 
British manufactures. The governor declin- 
ed this proffer. The assembly, however, ap- 
propriated two thousand pounds for comple- 
ting the governor's palace. Spotswood find- 
ing that nothing further could be obtained, 
dissolved the assembly and in anticipation of 
an Indian war, was obliged to solicit stores 
from England. [1712.] However the assem- 
bly made liberal appropriations to discharge 
the public debt and in aid of the Carolinas. 
y\nd Spotswood was now enabled to repel 
the Indians from the frontier and reduce the 
surrounding tribes to subjection. Anarchy 
prevailing in North Carolina, the assistance 
of the governor of Virginia was invoked. 
He sent a mediator to endeavor to reconcile 
the contending factions. But his efforts hav- 
ing proved unavailing, and another express 
arriving to solicit his aid, Spotswood des- 
pat< hed a land and naval force to that pro- 
vince. Cary, Porter and other ringleaders 
in the disturbances having escaped to Vir- 
ginia, were seized by Spotswood, [July, 1711,] 

are still in Virginia, in possession of a descendant of the 
governor, porlr lits of him and his lad v. Sin- it is said was 
Ann Butler Brain, whose middle name was taken from the 
Duke ol Ormond, her God-father. There is another por- 
trait of Gov. Spotswood at Chelsea, in the county of King 
William, Virginia, as also ol Dolly Spotswood, Ins yonngi r 
daughter, who married Captain Nathaniel West Dandridge 
of the British navy, son ol Captain William Dandridge of 
Elson Green. Chelsea was the scat of Bernard Moore, 
v. ho married Ann Catherine, elder daughter of Gov. Spots- 
wood. The governor's sons wire John and Robert. John 
married Mary Dandridge. Their children were General Alex- 
ander Spotswood and Major John Spotswood of the Revo- 
lution. The governor's lady surviving him, married Rev. 
Mr. Thompson "1 Culpepper county, from whom was de- 
scended the late Commodore Thompson of the U. S. Navy. 
See a curious letter from Rev. Mr. Thompson to lady 
Spotswood, in I list, of St. George's Parish, pp, 55-57. 
Robert, younger son of Governor Spotswood, a Captain 
under Washington, detached with a scouting party from 
Fort Cumberland, in May 1757. was killed by the Indians. 
2 Washington's Writings, pp. 23 I i 
' Bancroft, vol. 3, p. 29. 



1700-23. 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



107 



and sent prisoners to England. In the Tus- 
carora war, he again lent his aid to North 
Carolina. Blending vigor with humanity, he 
taught those ferocious tribes, that while he 
could chastise their insolence, he commise- 
rated their fate, and thus concluded a satis- 
factory peace. * 

Some Germans settled about this time on 
the Rapidan, in Essex county. They recei- 
ved from the assembly the same humane 
treatment that had been shown to the Hu- 
guenots. During eleven years, from 1707 
to 1718, while other colonies were burthened 
with taxation for extrinsic purposes, Virgi- 
nia steadily adhered to a system of rigid 
economy, and during that interval S3 pounds 
of tobacco per poll, was the total sum levied 
by special acts. The Virginians put them- 
selves " upon a nice inquiry into the circum- 
stances of the government." " The assem- 
bly concluded itself entitled to all the rights 
and privileges of an English parliament." 

The act of 1642, establishing the church 
in Virginia, reserved the right of presenta- 
tion to the parish. The license of the bishop 
of London and the recommendation of the 
governor availed but little against the popu- 
lar will. Republicanism was finding its way 
even into the church; vestries were growing 
independent. The parishes sometimes neg- 
lected to receive the ministers ; — sometimes 
received but did not present him. The cus- 
tom was to employ a minister by the year. 
[1703.] It was decided that the minister was 
an incumbent for life and could not be dis- 
placed by the parish. But the vestries by 
preventing his induction, excluded him 
from acquiring a freehold in his living and he 
might be removed at pleasure. The minis- 
ters were not always men who could win the 
affections of the people, or command their 
respect. There was a letharg} in the church 
of England on this head, aggravated by the 
difficulty of procuring suitable ministers. 

* Chalmers' h troduction, vol 1, p 401 < !oi 
tin's Hist. N. Carolina, vol. I , pp. 235-241, whose account 
is very different from lhalo Chalmers. According to Mar 
tin " Governni Spotswood, in a letter to Lord Dartmouth 
complained of the reluctance he found in the inhabitants 
nl the counties ol his government, bordering on Carolina. 

lo march to the reliel ol Cover Hyde." Tliesi ■ 

wen- chiefly settled by Quakers, who were nol only oppo 
sed to war, but also to Hyde From Martin it floes no 
appeal certain lhal any succor was actually received from 
Virginia. And he mentions Carey alone as apprehended 
by Spots wood. 



The Virginia parishes were so extensive, that 
parishioners sometimes lived fifty miles from 
the parish church. The assembly would not 
increase the taxes by narrowing the bounds 
of the parishes, even to avoid the dangers of 
"paganism, atheism orsectaries." "Schism" 
was indeed threatening " to creep into the 
church" and to generate "faction in the ci- 
vil government." * 

[1714.] The year in which George I. suc- 
ceeded to the crown, Spotswood made the 
first complete discovery of a passage over 
the Blue Ridge of mountains, t He was ac- 
companied by a volunteer troop of horse. As 
the flower of Virginia youth wound through 
the shadowy defiles, the trumpet now for the 
first time startled the echoes of the moun- 
tains, and from their summits Spotswood and 
his companions beheld with rapture the 
boundless panorama that suddenly spread 
itself before them, robed in misty splendor. 
Spotswood on his return, instituted the Tra- 
montane order and presentedeach of his com- 
panions with a golden horse-shoe with the in- 
scription : "Sic juvat transcendere montes." \ 

At the accession of George I., the popu- 

* Bancroft, vol. 3, pp. 27*28. See also Hawks, p. 88. 

t Beverley, 2nd Edition, London, 1722, in Preface, says, 
"1 was with the present Governor, [Spotswood,] ai the 
head-spring of both those rivers, [York and Rappahannock-] 
ami their fountains are in the highest ridge of mountains." 
Beverley, as I infer from this extract, accompanied Spots- 
wood in ins ei l< brated Tramontane ex| location and gives 
here the only clue lhal I have met with for tricing the route 
of it. Smee the preceding was printed, I have mel with 
the following account by the Rev. Hugh Junes, in Ins Pre- 
sent Stale of Virginia, as quoted in the History ol St. 
George's Parish, by Rev. Philip Slaughter, p. 53. "Gov- 
einor Spotswood when he undertook ihe greal discovery of 
a passage over the mountains attended with a sufficient 
guard of pioneers and gentlemen with a supply of provi- 
sions, passi d tin se mountains and cut Ins Majesty's name 
upon a rock upon the highest of them, naming it Ml. George 
and in complaisance to him the gi nllemen called the moun- 
tain next to it, Alt. Alexander. l'"oi this expedition they 
were obliged to provide a real quantity ol horse-shoes, 
things seldom used in the I i ts ol Virginia, where 

there are no .-tores. Upon which account the Governor, 
upon his return presented each ol las companions with a 
golden horse-shoe, some ol which I have seen covered with 
viln a hl.> stoni s, resi mbling heads ol nails with the inscrip- 
tion on one side, ' Sic juval transcendere montes.' Tins 
he instituted lo encourage gentlemen to venture backward 
.mil make discoveries and settlements, any gentleman be- 
tled lo weai this golden shoe who could prove that 
I ijesty 's health on Vlt. < reorae." 

I A novel, called "The Knight ol the Horse-Shoe," by 
Dr. William A < 'arm leas, derives its nine' ami subject 

from Spotsw 1's exploit. The miniature horse - 

nad belonged to him, (as I have been told by a lady, his 

:n] daughter, who had seen it) was small en 
lie worn on a watch chain. 



108 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXVIII. 



lation of Virginia had increased to seventy- 
two thousand whites, and twenty-three thou- 
sand blacks. Their number was enlarged by 
ten thousand Africans imported during this 
reign. Their condition was a rather rigorous 
servitude. Virginia and Maryland, the two 
tobacco colonies, exceeded in commercial 
consequence all the other Anglo-American 
colonies put together. Virginia exchanged 
her Indian corn, lumber and provisions, for 
the sugar, rum and wine of the West Indies 
and the Azores. The number of counties 
was now twenty-five. The government con- 
sisted of the governor, twelve councillors, 
who mimicked the English House of Lords, 
and fifty-two burgesses. The revenue of four 
thousand pounds being inadequate to the 
public charge, was eked out by three bun- 



oath of allegiance, in order to avail himself 
of a proclamation of pardon offered by the 
king. Wasting the fruits of sea-robbery in 
gambling and debauchery, Blackbeard again 
embarked in piracy. Having captured and 
brought in a valuable cargo, the Carolinians 
gave notice of it to the government of Vir- 
ginia. Spotswood and the assembly imme- 
diately proclaimed a large reward for his ap- 
prehension, and Lieutenant Maynard, attach- 
ed to a ship of war stationed in the Chesa- 
peake bay, was sent with two small vessels 
and a chosen crew, in quest of him. A bloo- 
dy action ensued in Pamlico bay, [21st Nov., 
1718.] Blackbeard had posted one of his 
men with a lighted match over the powder- 
magazine, to prevent a capture, by blowing 
up his vessel. This order failed to be exe- 



dred pounds from the royal quit-rents. Thejcuted. Blackbeard surrounded by the slain, 



militia numbered fifteen thousand. The Vir- 
ginians " chose such burgesses as had de- 
clared their resolution to raise no taxes for 
any occasion whatsoever." [1715.] They 
expelled two burgesses for serving without 
pay ; which they termed bribery. At this 
session Spotswood conceiving the assembly 
to be actuated only by faction, after five 



and bleeding from his wounds, in the act of 
cocking a pistol, fell on the bloody deck and 
expired. His surviving followers surrender- 
ed. Maynard returned with his prisoners to 
James River, Blackbeard's head hanging from 
the bowsprit. The pirates were tried in the 
Admiralty Court at Williamsburg, [March, 
1718.] Thirteen of them were hung. Ben- 



weeks spent in fruitless altercations, dissol- jamin Franklin then an apprentice in a print- 
ved them with harsh and contemptuous ex- ing office, composed a ballad on the death of 
pressions, which offended the spirit of the Theach. * 
burgesses. He had already wounded the j 
pride of the aspiring council, long the oli- 
garchy of the Old Dominion. Anonymous 
letters were now continually transmitted to 
England against him. The board of trade 
justly reproved him for his offensive language 
to the burgesses. In other points, Spots- 
wood vindicated himself with vigor and suc- 
cess. When, [1717,] the ancient laws of 
the colony were revised, the acts of 1663, for 
preventing the recovery of foreign debts and 
for prohibiting the assemblage of Quakers, 
and that of 1676, (one of Bacon's laws,) ex- 
cluding from office all persons who had not 
resided three years in the colony, were re- 
pealed by the king. 

John Theach, or Teach, a pirate, com- 
monly called Blackbeard, [ l?ls,j established 
his rendezvous at tin: mouth of Pamlico, in 
North Carolina. He bribed Eden, the gov- 
ernor of that province, and Knight, secretary 
of state with gold and enjoyed their protec- 
tion. Theach surrendered himself with twen- 
ty men to his patron, Eden, and took the 



At length eight members of the council, 

" Grahame's Hist. U. S., vol. 3, p. 88, and Franklin's 
Memoirs. See also " A General History of the Pyrates," 
published at London, [1726.] and " Lives and Exploits of 
Banditti and Robbers," by C. Macfarlane. There is, it. is 
said, a place mar Hampton, called " Blackbeard's point," 
where his head was stuck up > in terrorem. Martin in Ids 
History "I' North Carolina, volume 1, pp. 281-285, indi- 
rectly exculpates Eden and Knight. ■' There were men 
unfriendly to governor Eden and to the judge, [he was then 
acting Chief Justice,] Tobias Knight, who said that the 
governor had received sixty hogsheads of sugar a3 a dou- 
ceur and the judge twenty; and in order to elude every 
means of enquiry into the affair, the ship on a suggestion 

that she was leaky anil un»eaWorthy, was consumed by 

fire." p. 283. Audit is true that Eden and Knight were 
acquitted of Maine by the council, p. "i S ( ; . In Appendix to 

the same, vol e I, p. 15, may be seen Knight's defence 

before the council. li is prevaricating in several points. 
There was a letter found among Theach's papers, after his 
death, iiddn ssed to him by Knight, dated November 17th, 
1717. This lettei goes strongly to prove a confederation 
bet ween I be governor, I In' secretary and the pirate. It con- 
cludes thus : "I expect, the governor this night or to-mor- 
row, who I believe would be glad likewise to see you be- 
fore you go. I have not time to add, sale my hearty respects 
to ijmi and urn your real friend and servant. — T. Knight." 

Kin lit acknowledged that he wrote this letter at the 
Governor's instance. Why was it, that Eden took no 
measures u> apprehend Blackbeard? 



1700-23.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



ion 



headed by Commissary Blair, complained that 
Spotswood had infringed the charter, by as- 
sociating inferior men with them in criminal 
trials. Blair would have been better employ- 
ed in those spiritual functions, which proper- 
ly belonged to him and which he adorned. 
The government sustained Spotswood. While 
he exploded the clamors of an arrogant cabal, 
lie lamented to the board of trade, " how 
much anonymous obloquy had been cast upon 
his character, in order to accomplish the de- 
signs of a party, which by their success in 
removing other governors, are so far encour- 
aged, that they are resolved no one shall sit 
easy, who doth not resign his duty, his rea- 
son and his honor to the government of their 
maxims and interests." This bold statement 
exposes a secret under-current in the colo- 
nial administration, — the domineering am- 



burgesses, now united harmoniously in pro- 
moting the public welfare. Predatory par- 
ties of the Six nations were repelled by force 
and conciliated by presents. The frontier 
was pushed to the foot of the Blue Ridge 
and two new piedmont counties, were by 
the governor's solicitations, exempted for ten 
years from quit-rents. 

Sir Alexander Spotswood urged upon the 
British government the policy of establishing 
a chain of posts beyond the Alleghanies, 
from the lakes to the Mississippi, to restrain 
the encroachments of the French. But the 
ministry did not enter into his views and it 
was not till after the treaty of Aix-la-C Im- 
pede, that his wise admonitions were heeded 
and his plans adopted. He also failed in an 
effort to obtain from the British government 
compensation for his companions in the 



bition of the council,* — long the fruitful ! western exploration. At length, owing to 
source of mischiefs to Virginia. It is on this j the intrigues and envious whispers of men 
account that many of the accusations against far inferior to him in capacity and- honesty; 
the governors are to be received with caution j Spotswood was displaced [1722,] and suc- 



and many grains of allowance. 

[1718.] The assembly refused to pass salu- 
tary measures recommended by the gover- 
nor ; attacked his powers by investing the 
county courts with the appointment of their 
own clerks and strove to embarrass his ad- 
ministration and to displant him. He dis- 
played ability and moderation in these dis- 
putes, and when the assembly had completed 
their charges, prorogued them. This effer- 
vescence of ill humor excited a re-action in 
favor of Spotswood. In a short time address- 
es poured in from the clergy, the college, 
and almost every county, reprobating the 
factious conduct of the burgesses and ex- 
pressing the public happiness under an ad- 
ministration which had raised the colony 
from penury to prosperity. Meantime Col. 
William Byrd, who had been sent io London, 
the colonial agent, having failed in his ef- 
forts against Spotswood, begged the hoard 
of trade "to recommend forgiveness and 
moderation to both parties." The recom- 
mendation of the hoard, enforced by the ad- 
vice of Lord Orkney, the governor-in-chief, 
the Duke of Argyle and other great men who 
patronized Spotswood, buried these discords 
in oblivion. Spotswood, the council and the 

* St i tli complains of tins evil and expresses Ins appn 
hensions in a tone delicate indeed yel so firm, as must have 
been very unpalatable to the body referred to. 



ceeded by Hugh Drysdale. An English his- 
torian * thus speaks of Spotswood : — " Hav- 
ing reviewed the uninteresting conduct of 
the frivolous men, who had ruled before him, 
the historian will dwell with pleasure on the 
merits of Spotswood. There was an utility 
in his designs, a vigor in his conduct and an 
attachment to the true interest of the king- 
dom and die colony, which merit the great- 
est praise. Had he attended more to the 
courtly maxim of Charles II., ' to quarrel 
with no man. however great might he tin.' 
provocation ; since he knew not how soon 
he should be obliged to act with him,' that 
able officer might be recommended as the 
model of a provincial governor. The lidded 
heroes who had discovered the uses of the 
anvil and the axe; who introduced the la- 
bors of the plough with the arts of the fisher, 
have been immortalized as the greatest ben- 
efactors of mankind ; had Spotswood even 
invaded the privileges while he only mortified 
the pride of the Virginians, they ought to 
have erected a statue to the memory of ,i 
ruler, who gave them the manufacture of 
iron and showed them by his active example, 
that it is diligence and attention which can 
alone make a people great." 

Spotswood was well skilled in the mathe- 
matics. He built the octagon magazine at 

* Chalmers in Introduction, vol 2, p. 78. 



no 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXIX. 



Williamsburg and rebuilt the college, which 
had been burned down and made improve- 
ments in the governor's house and gardens. 
He was an excellent judge on the bench. 
At his instance a fund was established for 
instructing Indian children in Christianity, 
and he erected a school for that purpose on 
the frontier. * He was the author of an act 
for improving the staple of tobacco, and ma- 
king tobacco-notes the medium of ordinary 
circulation. Being a perfect master of the 
military art, he kept the militia of Virginia 
under admirable discipline. The county of 
Spotsylvania, formed [1720,] was called af- 
ter him. Here he had founded, previous to 
1724, the town of Genua una, so called from 
some Germans sent over by queen Anne and 
settled there, f and at this place he resided. 
Owning an extensive tract of country and 
finding it abounding in iron ore, he engaged 
largely in the manufacture of it. He has 
been styled "the Tubal-Cain of Virginia;" he 
was indeed the first person who ever estab- 
lished a furnace in North America, t [1730.] 
He was made deputy post-master-general for 
the colonies, and he held that place until 
1739, § when he was appointed commander- 
in-chief of the colonial troops, in the expe- 
dition fitted out against Carthagena. He 
died, however, when on the eve of embark- 
ing, at Annapolis, [June 7th, 1740.] || 



* " He [Gov. Spotswood,] built a fort called Foil Christ 
n;i, not so far back, where I have seen seventy-seven In- 
dian children at school at a tune at the governor's sole ex- 
pense. The children could read and say their catechism 
and prayers tolerably well. Bui this pious design being 
laid a.side through opposition of pride and interest, Mr. 
Griffin was removed to the college, to leach the Indians 
placed there by the benefactions of Mr. Boyle. The In- 
dians so loved and adored him that ] have seen them lilt 
him up in tlinr arms, and they would have chosen him 
king of the Saponey nation." Hugh .lours' Present State 
ol Virginia, cited by Rev. Philip Slaughter, in his History ol 
St. George's Parish, p. 53. 

+ Howe's Hist. Collections of Virginia, p. 175. Hist, 
ol St. George's Parish, pp. 10-11. 

! Westover MSS., p. 132. Col. Byrd's account ol Ins 
visit to Spotsw oi id. 

c> It, was Spotswood that promoted Benjamin Franklin 
to the office ol postmaster for the Province of Pennsylva- 
nia, 2 Grahame, p. I5G, American Edition. 

|| 3 Bink, p. 101. Lempriere's Biog. Die, Art. Spots- 
wood. From the Virginia Gazette. — 1739. "Col. Spots- 
wood intending next year to leave Virginia with his family, 
hereby gives notice thai he shall in April next dispose ol 
a quantity of choice household furniture together with a 
coach, chariot, chaise, coach horses, house slaves, &>■ 
And thai the rich lands in Orange county, which he has 
bitherto reserved for his own seating, he now leases our 



CHAPTER XXIX. 
1723—1749. 

Drysdale Governor; His feeble administration ; Succeeded 
by Gooch ; Miscellaneous affairs; Expedition against 
Carthagena; Lawrence Washington; Virginia troops 
enlist, to succor Oglethorpe in Georaia ; The Virsinia 
Gazette; Richmond; Scotch-Irish settlers; German 
settlers; John Lewis a pioneer in Augusta; Burden's 
Grant ; Rencontre with the Shawnees; Treaty of Lan- 
caster; Death and character of William Byrd; Rebel- 
lion in favor of the Pretender; Loyalty of Virgi- 
nia; Miscellaneous incidents; Dissenters in Virginia; 
Whitel'a |i| ; Originof Presbytenanism in Hanover; Mor- 
ris; Missionaries; Rev. Samuel Davies ; Gooch's mea- 
sures against Moravians, New Lights and Methodists ; 
Gooch resigns; His character; Robinson; Lee; Bur- 
well. 

[September, 1723.] Hugh Drysdale assum- 
ed the administration of Virginia amidst the 
tranquil prosperity bequeathed him by his pre- 
decessor. Drysdale, a man of weak calibre, 
yielded to the current of the day, solicitous 



for lives, renewable until Christmas 1775, admitting every 
tenant to the choice of his tenement according to the pri- 
ority of entry. He further gives notice, that he is ready to 
treat with any person of good credit, for firming out for 'J! 
years Germanna and its contiguous lands with the stock 
thereon and some slaves. As also for farming out fur the 
like term of years ai nary grist-mill and bolt- 

ing-mill, lately built by oneol tin- best millwrights in Ameri- 
ca, and both going by water, taken by a long race out ol the 
Rapidanne, together v\ ith 600 acres of seated laud adjoining 
to the said mill. 

" N. L>. The chariot, (which has been looked upon as 

one of the best made, handsomest and easiest chariots in 
London,) is to be disposed of at any time, together with 
some other goods, No one will be received as a 1 'liant 
w ho has not the chaiacter o( an industrious man." 

Governor Spotswood led in MS. an historical account 
|of Virginia, in the time of his administration, Mr. Ban- 
'crofl had access to in, - '■ S. and refers to n in his History. 
I have been informed by him, thai lie esteems it a docu- 
ment of eminent value. Aftei remaining long in the Spots- 
wood family of Virginia, it was communicated by one of 
that name to a Ion ign gentleman then in this country, and 
is. il is said, still in Ins possession in Europe. Ii would 
lie a matter ol regret for all interested in Virginia history, 
il such a manuscript should be lost. Rev Robert Rose, a 
native ol Scotl tnd, came ova r t > \ irginia about the - ime 
i line w iin Spotswood ; according to a t radii ion among some 
of his descendants, with Spotswood, n: capacity ol Chap- 
lain. Ii is said ih. ii he afterwards settled near West Point 
in the county ol King William, and finally removed to Al- 
bemarle, lie kept for man j years a Diary, in « liich he was 
in the habil of recording many particulars, wlwch would no 
doubt gratify tin curio it} of a reader ol the present day. 
The MS., said to lie quite a large volume, is ~'i\\ extant in 
possession ol his descendants on the hanks of the Missis- 
sippi. Rev. M , . Rose lies buried 111 the yard ol rjt. John's 
church in the city of Richmond. 



1723-49.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



Ill 



only to retain his place. In his name an act 
regulating the importation of convicts was 

passed but rejected by the Board of Trade. To 
free the people from a poll-tax, a duty was judi- 
ciously laid on the importation of liquors and 
slaves. Butowing to the avaricious opposition 
of the African company and interested traders, 
the measure was repealed, as an encroach- 
ment on the trade of England. Drysdale 
congratulated the Duke of Newcastle, "that 
the benign influence of his auspicious sov- 
ereign was conspicuous here in a general 
harmony and contentment amongst all ranks 
of persons." [1727.] Drysdale dying, 

July 22, 1726, and Col. Jennings next in 
order of succession being suspended, Col. 
Robert Carter took upon himself the ad- 

• ministration as President of the Council. 
This gentleman, owing to the ample extent 
of his landed possessions and to his being 
Agent of Lord Fairfax, proprietary of a vast 
territory in the Northern Neck — acquired 

ythe sobriquet of " King Carter." He was 
Speaker of the House of Burgesses for six 
years, Treasurer of the Colony, and for many 
years member of the Council. He remain- 
ed at the head of the government upwards 
of a year, t [1727.] About, the 13th of Oc- 
tober, [1727,] William Gooch, who had been 
an officer in the British army, became gov- 
ernor. The council without authority al- 
lowed him three hundred pounds out of the 
royal quit-rents. He in return resigned in 
a great measure the helm of government to 
them. Owing partly to this coalition, partly 
to a well-established revenue and a rigid 
economy, Virginia enjoyed prosperous re- 
pose during his long administration. [1727.] 

| There was one Presbyterian congregation in 



* Chalmers' tntroduc, vol. 2, pp. 79-80. 

f 1 Hening, p. 7. He lived al Corotoman on the Rappa- 
hannock in Lancaster county. Here a church .was com 
pleted in liiTo undi r the direction of John Carter, first of 
that family in Virginia. A line old church built by Roberl 
Carter on the site of the former <>no and still in good pres- 
ervation has la en described by Bishop Meade in Ins inter- 
fisting account of some of the old churches of Virginia. 
Robert Carter, (sometimes (ailed Robin,) married first Ju- 
dith Armistead, second Hetty, " a descendant of the noble 
family of the Landons," by whom he left many children. 
His port rail and that of one ol Ins wives are preserved al 
Shirley, on .lames river, seat ol Hill Carter, Esq. Phe 
arms of the Carters bear cart wheels vert. John Cartel 
first of the family and one of the Council is mentioned in 
1 Hening pp.432, 514, 515. Edward Carter, I'm 
member of the Council, lb. IM, 526. 



Virginia and preachers from the Philadel- 
phia Synod visited the colony. * An act of 
Parliament prohibiting the exportation of 
stripped tobacco was complained of by the 
planters, as causing a decline of the trade. 
They undertook, however, to enhance the 
value of that commodity by improving its 
quality, and in July 1732, sent Randolph to 
England to lay their complaint before the 
crown. Virginia, nevertheless, continued to 
prosper, and from the year 1700 her popula- 
tion doubled in twenty-live years. 

Now for the first time American troops 
were transported from the colonies to co- 
operate with the forces of the mother coun- 
try in offensive war. An attack upon Car- 
thagena being determined on, Gooch raised 
four hundred men as Virginia's quota and the 
assembly appropriated five thousand pounds. 
Gooch commanded the colonial troops in 
the expedition. it proved unsuccessful. 
Upon this occasion the amount of Virginia's 
appropriation exceeding the sum in the trea- 
sury, the remainder was borrowed from 
wealthy men, with a view to avoid the frauds 
of depreciation and to secure the benefits of 
circulation. Lawrence Washington, eldest. 
brother of George, served in the rank of Cap- 
tain at the siege of Carthagena and in the 
West Indies. An accomplished gentleman, 
he acquired the esteem and confidence of 
General Wentworth and admiral Vernon, 
the commanders of the British forces and 
after the latter named his scat on the Po- 
tomac. Shortly after the failure at Car- 
thao-ena an express from South Carolina 
brought tidings that the Spaniards had made 
a descent upon Georgia. Captain Dan- 
dridge, commander of the South-Sea Castle, 
together with the Snows Hawk and Swift, 
was despatched to the assistance of General 
Oglethorpe. The Spaniards were repulsed. 
Georgia, however, being still threatened by 
a Spanish forc< . concentrated at St. Augus- 
tine, in Florida, Oglethorpe sent Lieut. Col. 
Heron to recruit a regiment in Virginia. 
Captain Lawrence Washington with a num- 
ber of officers and soldiers of Couch's Car- 



* Chalmers' Introduc, vol. 2, pp. 161-162. As to the 
early Presbyterians see Hodges' Hist, of the Presbyterian 
church, part 1, pp. 76-77. Hawks, p. 91 Beverli y, B. I V, 
p. , anno 1705, said, " those counties where the Pr 
i i.i n Meetings are, product vi ry mean Tobacco and lor that 
reason can't get an Orthodox Minister to stay amongst 
them." 



112 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXIX. 



thagena regiment lately discharged, just now 
arriving at Hampton and meeting with He- 
ron, many of them enlisted under him. 

[1736.] The first Virginia newspaper, the 
Virginia Gazette, appeared. It was pub- 
lished by William Parks weekly, at 15 shil- 
lings per annum. It was a small sheet, in 
the interest of the Government, and long 
the only journal of the colony. Parks print- 
ed Stith's History of Virginia and the Laws 
of Virginia. A printing-press was first es- 
tablished in South Carolina and a newspa- 
per in 1734. [1726.] A printing-press was 
introduced into Maryland. One had been 
established at Cambridge in Massachusetts 
before 1647. [1719.] Two newspapers were 
issued at Boston, and [1725] one at New 
York. * [1737.] The town of Richmond 
was laid ofF near the falls of James river by 
Col. William Byrd, who was proprietor of an 
extensive tract there. Shocco Warehouse 
had been already established there for a good 
many years, t 



* Grahame, Amer. Ed., vol. 1, pp. 237-393. Vol. 2, 
pp. 91-99. Howe's Hist. Coll. of Va.,p. 331, citing Thom- 
as's Hist, of Printing. [1671.] Sir Wm. Berkley thanked 
God that there were " no free schools nor printing" in Vir- 
ginia. 2 Hening, p. 517. " Feby 2, 1682, John Buckner" 
had been "called before ihe Lord Culpepper and his Coun- 
cil, for printing the laws of 1G80, without his excellency's 
license and he and the printer ordered to enter into bond in 
,£100 not to print any thing thereafter until his majesty's 
pleasure should lie known." 2 Hening, p. 518. Grahame 
not adverting to this authority fell into the error of dating 
the first introduction of the printing press into Virginia in 
1729. See his Hist, of U. S , Amer. Ed., vol. 2, p. 91. 
The first evidence of printing done in Virginia is the edi- 
tion 1733 of the Revised Laws. 2 Hening, p. 518. 

t [1645.] Fort Charles, called after the Prince royal, 
afterwards Charles I., "as established at I lie Falls of .lames 
liver. 1 Hening, p. 293. [1679.] A tract of land at the 
falls, extending five miles in length and three in breadth 
and lying on both sides of the river, was claimed by Capt. 
William Byrd. 2 Hening, pp. 153-151 A large part of tins 
land on the North side bad a lew years before belonged to Na- 
thaniel Bacon, Jr. Byrd had been active in bringing some 

of the rebels to punishment. 'I'he names Bacon's Quarter 

and Bacon's Quarter Branch, are still preserved there, [1733 ] 
Col. Byrd made a visit to his plantations on the Roanoke river 
mud by M,,|. Mayo, M ., j Munford, Mr. Banister and 
Mr. PeterJones. While here, he says, " We laid the foun- 
dation ni two large cities, one at Shacco's to be called 
Richmond, and the other at the point ol Appomattox, to be 
called Petersburg. These Major Mayo offered to lay out 
in lots without feeorrewaid. The truth of it is, these two 
places, being the uppermost landing id James and Appo- 
mattox rivers, are naturally intended lor maris, where the 
traffick of the outer inhabitants must cent re. Thus we did 
not build castles only bul cities in the air." Westover 
MSS., p. In7. 

From the Virginia Gazette, April 1737. 
This is to give notice, that on the north side of James 



During Elizabeth's reign, the disaffected 
and turbulent province of Ulster suffered pre- 
eminently the ravages of civil war. Quieted 
for a time by the sword, insurrection again 
burst forth in the second year of the reign of 
James I. Repeated rebellions crushed [1605] 
left a large tract of country desolate and fast 
declining into barbarism. Nearly six coun- 
ties of Ulster thus, by forfeiture, fell into the 
hands of the king. James colonized this 
unhappy district, with emigrants partly Eng- 
lish, principally Scotch — one of the few wise 
and salutary measures of a feeble and inglo- 
rious reign. The descendants of these col- 
onists came to be distinguished by the name 
of Scotch-Irish. The persecutions of the 
house of Stuart only rivetted more closely their 
attachment of these Presbyterians to their' 
religious and political principles, and Crom- 
well found in them unbending, indomitable 
disaffection. It was not however before the 
Revolution of 168S, that the Scotch-Irish be- 
gan to emigrate to America. Many of them 
came over and settled in Pennsylvania. 
Thence they gradually migrated to the Wes- 
tern parts of Virginia and North Carolina, 
inhabiting the frontier of civilization and 
forming a barrier between the red men and 
the whites of the older settlements. * 

After the settlement of Jamestown, a 
century elapsed before Virginia began to 
extend herself towards the foot of the 
Blue Ridge. [1714.] Spotswood had ex- 
plored these mountains as far as to the 
sources of the confluents of the York and 
the Rappahannock. The fertile valley of 
the Shenandoah first allured some hardy ad- 
venturers, and before the year 1738, some 
pioneer cabins erected near the Shawnee 
Springs, formed the embryo of the town of 
Winchester — long the frontier out-post of 



river, nearthe uppermost landing and a little below Ihe falls, 
is lately laid oil' by Major Mayo a town called Richmond, 
with streets sixty-five feet wide in a pleasant and healthy 
situation and well supplied with springs and goo^ water, 
li lies nearthe public warehouse at Shoccoe's and in the 
midst of great quantities of main and all kinds of provis- 
ions. The lots will be granted in lee simple, on condi- 
I ion only, ol building a bouse in I liree years I line, of twenty- 
four by sixteen feel fronting within live feet of the street. 
The lots to be rated according to the convenience of their 
situation and to be sold after this April General Court by 
me, 

Wij.i.iam Byrd. 

* Foote's, Sketches of North Carolina, chap. 5. Gra- 
hame, American Edition, vol. 2, pp. 57-58, in note. 



1723-49. 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



113 



the colony. The population of this region 
was composed of English from low haul Vir- 
ginia, Germans, and Scotch-Irish from Penn- 
sylvania. The country bordering the North 
and South branches of the Shenandoah, was 
settled by a German population, winch re- 
tains its language and simplicity of manners 
at the present day. At length a few bold 
adventurers, finding their way into the West- 
ern portion of the Valley, brought back at- 
tractive descriptions of the charms of that 
country and some pioneers were tempted to 
plant themselves in that wild, picturesque, re- 
mote region. John Lewis, a Huguenot by 
descent and a native of Ireland, established 
himself in the forests of Augusta county, 
near the site of the town of Staunton and 
on the border of a creek which yet bears his 
name. Assaulted in his native country by 
an oppressive landlord and a band of ruffian 
retainers, seeing his wife wounded and a 
brother slain, Lewis slew the lawless noble- 
man and found it necessary to escape from 
Ireland to America. He reached Virginia, 
accompanied by his family and thirty of his 
former tenantry. The king of England af- 
terwards granted him a pardon and patents 
for an extensive tract of Western Virginia. 
The residence of this fearless pioneer came 
to be known as Fort Lewis. [1736.] Lewis 
visiting Williamsburg, met with Benjamin 
Burden, who had lately come ever to Vir- 
ginia, agent for Lord Fairfax, proprietor of 
the Northern Neck. Burden accepted Lew- 
is's invitation to visit him at his sequestered 
home in the backwoods. The visit was oc- 
cupied in exploring the virgin beauties of 
the Valley and in hunting. A captured 
young buffalo was given to Burden, and he 
on his return presented it to Governor Gooch, 
who, thus propitiated, authorized him to lo- 
cate 100,000 acres of land in Augt 
Whether the young buffalo was reckoned a 
consideration equivalent to the land is left 
to conjecture. [1737.] Burden to settle his 
territory brought upwards of 100 families 
from the North of Ireland, Scotland and the 
border counties of England. Other colo- 
nies emanating from the same quarters, fol- 
lowed and settled that portion of the valley 
intervening between the German settlements 
and the bord< river. * In 

* Howe's Hist. Coll.. pp., 181-451, citing extract fiom 
MS. by R.ev, II my RulFnei. 



December, 1742, a skirmish occurred in the 
county of Augusta between a party of the 
Shawnee Indians and some militia under 
Colonel Patton. Captain McDowell and 
seven other militia-men were slam. In 1722 
Spotswood had effected a treaty with the Six 
Nations, by which they stipulated never to 
appear to the east of the Blue Ridge nor 
South of the Potomac. As, however, the 
Anglo-Saxon rare gradually extended like a 
vapor beyond the western base of that range, 
collisions ensued. July 31, 1713, a treaty 
of peace was concluded at Lancaster, in 
Pennsylvania, between Virginia, Maryland 
and Pennsylvania on the one hand and the 
Six Nations on the other. The tomahawk 
was buried; the wampum belts of peace de- 
livered to brighten the silver chain of friend- 
ship, and the red men for the consideration 
of four hundred pounds reluctantly relin- 
quished the country lying westward from the 
frontier of Virginia to the river Ohio. The 
expense of this treaty was paid out of the 
royal quit-rents. 

In November 4th of this year, William 
Fairfax, son of the proprietor of the North- 
ern Neck, was appointed of his majesty's 
council, in the place of Commissary Blair. 
About this time died Col. William Byrd, one 
of the Council. A vast fortune enabled him 
to live in a style of hospitable splendor before 
unknown in Virginia, and to indulge a munifi- 
cent liberality. His extensive learning was 
improved by a keen observation and refined 
by an acquaintance and correspondence with 
the wits and noblemen of his day in England. 
His writings display a thorough know 
of the natural and civil history of the colony 
and contain daguerrotypeskel mesofthe man- 
ners of hisage. Hisdiffusest; tedby 
humor, which, according to the spirit of his 
times, is ofte;i coan e ;im\ indelicate. To 
him is due the honor of havin j contributed 
m( ,re perhaps to the preservation of the his- 
torical materials of Virginia than any other 
of her sons. 



* He lies buried in the garden of Ins seat, Weslover, 
where a marble monument bears the following inscription : 
'■Herelielh the Honorable William B>nl, Esq. Beti'g 
l; ( , ru to c ne " ( the amplest fortunes in ibis ( ouutrj , he w s 
sent early to England for Ins education, where hi 
,-.,,,■ and direction "I Sir R it Pit Southwell and i -ei fa- 
voured with his particular instructions, he made a happy 
proficiency in polite ami various learning. by ihe means 
ol Lhtjsam: noble friend, be was introduced to the acquain- 



15 



114 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXIX. 



[1744.] France endeavoring to impose 
a popish pretender of the House of Stu- 
art upon the people of England, the col- 
onies were advised to put themselves in readi- 
ness against the threatened blow. Accord- 
ingly in the following year the assembly was 
convened ; but still adhering to a rigid econ- 
omy, the burgesses refused to make any 
appropriation of money for that purpose. 
About this period, Edward Trelawney, Gov- 
ernor of Jamaica was authorized to recruit 
a regiment in Virginia. A rebellion burst 
forth in Scotland in favor of the pretender 
Charles James. When the news of it reach- 
ed Virginia, the assembly was called togeth- 
er. The college, the clergy and the bur- 
gesses unanimously pledged their private re- 
sources and those of the colony to support 
the house of Hanover. A proclamation was 
issued against Romish priests sent, it was 
alleged, as emissaries from Maryland to se- 
duce the people of Virginia from their al- 
legiance. Intelligence of the overthrow of 
the pretender at Culloden, [16th of April, 
1746,] was joyfully received in the Ancient 
Dominion and celebrated by effigies of the 
unfortunate prince, bonfires, processions and 
illuminations. In May the assembly appro- 
priated four thousand pounds to the raising 
of Virginia's quota of troops for the inva- 
sion of Canada. The troops so raised sailed 



lance of many ol the first persons of that a«c for know- 
ledge, wit. virtue, birth or high station, and particularly 
contracted a most intimate and bosom friendship with the 
learned and illustrious Charles Boyle, Karl of Orrery. He 
was called to the liar in the Middle Temple; studied for 
some time iii the Low Countries; visited the Con it ol 
France and was chosen Fellow of the Royal Society. 
Thus eminently titled for the service and ornament of his 
country, he was made receiver general ol his majesty's 
revenues here ; was thrice appointed public agent to the 
court and ministry of England and being thirty-seven years 
a member, at last became president of the council of this 
colony. To all ihis were added a great elegancy of taste 
ami life, the well-bred gentleman and polite companion, 
the splendid economist and prudent lather of a family, with 
the constant enemy of all exorbitant power and hearty 
friend to ihe liberties of his country. Nat. Mar. 28, 1674. 
Moit. Aug. 2C, I Ml. An J£i»\ 70." His portrait, a fine 
old cavalier lace, is preserved at Berkley. 

Beverley, B 1, p. 6'i, thus alludes to the garden at West- 
over : "Colonel Byrd, in his garden, which is the finest in 
that country, has a summer-house set round with the Indian 

I ey-suckle, which all the .Summer is continually full of 

sweet flowers, in which llifl.^e birds delight exceedingly. 
I ' | a ii i these flowers I have si en ten or a dozen ol these 
beautiful ( ream res together, which sported about me so fa- 
miliarly, tliul with then link wings they often tanned my 
face." 



from Hampton in June under convoy of the 
Fowey man-of-war. The expedition proved 
abortive. Gooch was knighted during this 
year. 

Not long after, the capitol at Williams- 
burg was burned. The burgesses availed 
themselves of this conjuncture to propose 
the establishment of the metropolis at a 
point more favorable to commerce. This 
scheme was rejected by the council. Gooch 
on this occasion displayed duplicity. To 
the Board of Trade he praised the noble 
views of the burgesses, while he censured 
the selfishness of the council ; yet in public 
he blamed the burgesses, " as he thought 
this the best method to stifle the flame of 
contention." In this case he seems not to 
have reckoned " honesty the best policy." 
Perhaps it was not and is not generally, else 
there would be more of it in the world. 

[1747.] The town of Richmond was es- 
tablished and in the following year Peters- 
burg and Blandford. A committee was ap- 
pointed to revise the laws ; it consisted of 
Peyton Randolph, Philip Ludwell, Beverley 
Whiting, Carter Burwell and Benjamin Wal- 
ler. [1748.] The vestries were authorized 
to make presentation to benefices. 

Dissent from the established church began 
to develope itself in Virginia. Many of the 
early settlers of the Western frontier were 
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. Their remote 
situation afforded them entire religious free- 
dom. [1740.) The celebrated Whitefield vis- 
ited Virginia and preached at Williamsburg 
by the invitation of Commissary Blair. The 
extraordinary religious excitement that took 
place at this time in America, and which 
was increased by the impassioned eloquence 
of Whitefield was styled " the New-light 
Stir." In lower Virginia, Presbyterian ism 
had its origin chiefly in the county of Han- 
over. Between 1740 and 1743 a few fami- 
lies of this county segregated themselves 
from the established church and were ac- 
customed to meet for the purpose of wor- 
ship at the house of Samuel Morris, the 
zealous leader of this little band of dissent- 
ers. Of singular simplicity of character 

sincere, devout, earnest, he was in the habit 
of reading to his neighbors from favorite re- 
ligious works, particularly Luther's commen- 
tary on the Galatians, with the view of com- 
municating to others, impressions that had 



1723-49.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



115 



been made on himself. [1743.] Having met 
with a volume of Whitefield's sermons, he 
commenced reading them to his audience, 
who met to hear them every Sunday and 
frequently on week days. At length his 
dwelling being found too small to contain 
his increasing congregation, a meeting-house 
was built merely for reading, and it came to be 
called "Morris's Reading-room." He was 
soon invited to read these sermons in other 
parts of the country and thus other reading- 
houses were established. Those who fre- 
quented them were fined for absenting them- 
selves from church,- and Morris himself often 
incurred this penalty. When called on by 
the General Court to declare to what de- 
nomination they belonged, these unsophis- 
ticated dissenters, not knowing what else to 
call themselves, assumed for the present 
time, the name of Lutherans, (quite una- 
ware that this appellation had been appro- 
priated by any others,) but shortly afterwards 
they relinquished that name. * 

Partaking in the religious excitement which 
then pervaded the colonies, limited in infor- 
mation and in the means of attaining it, dis- 
cordant opinions began to divide this little 
association of unorganized dissenters. Some 
seemed to be verging towards Antinomianism, 
and it became a question among them wheth- 
er it was right to pray, as prayer could not 
alter the divine purposes and it might be im- 
pious to desire that it should. 

[1743.] Rev. William Robinson, a mission- 
ary sent out by the Presbytery of New Bruns- 
wick, visited the frontier settlements of Vir- 
ginia. He preached among the Scotch-Irish 
settlers of Prince Edward, Campbell, and 
Charlotte counties, and in the last founded 
a congregation. Invited to Hanover, he 
preached for four successive days to large 
congregations of people. Some of them 
could not refrain from publicly giving vent 

* Memoir of Samuel Davies in Evan, and Lit. Mas., 
(edited by Rev. Dr. John H. Rice,) vol. 2, pp. 113,186,201, 
330, 353, 474. This work contains a large mass of valu- 
able historical and biographical materials appertaining to 
Virginia. "Origin of Presbylerianism," lb. pp. 340,353. 
This is a traditional account given from memory after an 
interval of 25 years. In some points it is erroneous; m 
general it is no doubt authentic, — in particulars it admits of 
doubt. Sketch of Hist, of the Church, (by Rev. Moses 
Hoge, sometime President of Hampden Sydney College,) 
appended to Campbell's Hist. of Va., pp.290, 310. Hawks, 
chap. 6. 3 Burk. pp. 119, 125. Hodge's Hist, of Presby- 
terian church, part 2, pp. 42, 46, 284, 285. 



to their overwhelming emotions. Many were 
converted. Robinson before his departure 
succeeded in correcting some of the errors 
of the dissenters and brought them to con- 
duct public worship with better order, prayer 
and singing of psalms being now introdu- 
ced, so that " he brought them into some 
kind of church order on the Presbyterian 
model." * Another Missionary, Rev. Mr. 
Roan, from the Newcastle Presbytery, preach- 
ed with success in Virginia, and the conse- 
quent excitement, together with his speak- 
ing freely of the degeneracy of the clergy 
of the colony, gave alarm to the supporters 
of the established church and measures were 
concerted for arresting these inroads of dis- 
sent. To aggravate the indignation of the 
government, a perjured calumniator, whose 
name has not survived, swore, "that he heard 
Mr. Roan utter blasphemous expressions in 
his sermon." An indictment was drawn up 
against him, although he had left the colony. 
Some of those who had invited him to preach 
at their houses, were summoned to appear 
before the General Court, and two of them 
were fined. The indictment, however, was 
dropped ; the witnesses summoned to testi- 
fy against him having testified in his favor ; 
and the accuser fled from the colony. How- 
ever, the intolerant spirit of the government 
continuing unabated, the Synod of New York, 
[1745,] at the instance of a deputation of 
Morris and some other dissenters of East- 
ern Virginia, sent an address to the Gov- 
ernor of Virginia, in their behalf, by two 
clergymen, William Tennent and Samuel 
Finley. They were kindly received by Gooch 
and were allowed to preach in Hanover, but 
they returned in a week to their own coun- 
try. The first Presbyterian ministers who 
visited this part of Virginia, Robinson, Todd, 
Roan, &c, were by the people denominated 
New Lights — a name employed by their ad- 
herents in a favorable sense; by their oppo- 
nents as an epithet of ridicule. In 1743, 
when Morris and some other dissenters had 
at Williamsburg professed their adhesion to 
the tenets of the Presbyterian "Confession 
of Faith," Gooch had received them kindly 
and recognized their right to the privileges 

* "Origin of Preshyterianism," Evan, and Lit. Mag., 
vol. 2. p. 351. Whitefield afterwards preached for some 
days in Hanover. Mr. Madison, it is said, esteemed White- 
field the greatest orator that he had ever listened to. 



lib' 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXIX. 



of the Toleration Act. * In this year, 1745, 
it has been seen he gave a like reception to 
Tennent and Finley. Yet in April of the 
same year he delivered a severe charge to 
the grand jury against "certain false teach- 
ers, lately crept into this government, who 
without order, or license, or producing any 
testimonial of their education, or sect, pro- 
fessing themselves ministers under the pre- 
tended influence of new light, extraordinary 
impulse, and such like satirical and enthusi- 
astick knowledge, lead the innocent and igno- 
rant people into all kinds of delusion." In the 
summerofthe following-year he issued aproc- 
lamation against Moravians, New Lights and 
Methodists, t prohibiting under severe penal- 
tics their meetings. In regard to the dissent- 
ers, Gooch exhibited inconsistency if not du- 
plicity in bringing such harsh and sweeping 
charges against these ministers whom he had 
received so courteously. Perhaps he in- 
tended to apply his denunciations only to 
Roan and a few others who had rendered 
themselves particularly odious. But it is 
more probable that the Governor at first, 
when he reckoned the visits of these mis- 
sionaries transient and their influence incon- 
siderable, was willing to indulge his courte- 
ous and obliging disposition towards them. 
But when dissent was found spreading with 
such unexpected rapidity, Gooch, together 
with the clergy and other friends of the es- 



* According to "Origin of Presbyterianism," 2 Evan. 
and Lit. Mag., p. 349. "The Governor, Gooch, (who it 
was said had been educated a Presbyterian, but for the 
sake ol an office, or for some Other reason, had become a 
member of the established church,) immediately observed, 
oa seeing the confession, that these men were Presbyti ri- 
r.ns and that they were tolerated by the laws of England." 
The interview between the Governor and Council and 
Morris and his companions, was interrupted by a thunder- 
storm of extraordinary fury. Tins wa3 one of a tram of 
providential events, which the dissenting deputation be- 
lieved to have been instrumental in bringing about the fa- 
vorable issue of their application. 

t 3 Burk, p. 110,122, 126. Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexan- 
der m the Richmond Watchman and Observer for March 
18th, 1847, says— "These lirst Presbyterian Ministers who 
visited Middle Virginia were by the people denominated 
New Liuiits. This name was not given lo them in the 
North, where on accountol the division ol Hie Presbyteri- 
an Church into two parties they were called ZV< w aidt ami 
the other party Old .sine. But as those zealous servants of 
God preached up the doctrine ol justification by faith and 
regeneration by the Spirit doctrines in those days never 
heard from the pulpits of the established clergy of Virgin- 
ia — they were very commonl) denominated New Lights.'' 



tablishment, became alarmed and had re- 
course to measures of intolerance which they 
would rather have avoided. * 

Rev. Samuel Davies was pre-eminently 
instrumental in organizing and extending 
Presbyterianism in Eastern Virginia. Born 
in the county of Newcastle, Delaware, No- 
vember 3, 1724, and educated principally in 
Pennsylvania, he visited Hanover county for 
the first time, transiently, in April, 1747. Lan- 
guishing under consumption, which threat- 
ened to cut him off prematurely, he howev- 
er recovered sufficient strength to return to 
Hanover, 1748, and settled at a place about 
12 miles from the Falls of James river, t 
Severe laws had been passed in Virginia in 
accordance with the English Act of Uni- 
formity, though with less penalty, and en- 
forcing attendance at the Parish church. 
The Toleration Act was little understood in 
Virginia; Davies examined it carefully and 
satisfied himself that it was in force in the 
colony, not indeed by virtue of its original 
enactment in England, but because it had 
been expressly recognized and adopted by 
an act of the Virginia assembly. He had 
accordingly, upon qualifying according to the 
act of toleration, procured from the General 
Court, upon his first arrival in Hanover in 
1747, a license of four places of worship, 
meeting-houses in the language of that day, 
situated in the counties of Henrico, Hano- 
ver and New Kent. [October, 1748.] Licen- 
ses were upon the petitions of the dissen- 
ters with difficulty obtained, for three other 
meeting-houses lying in Caroline, Louisa 
and Goochland. Davies was now only about 
twenty-four years of age, yet his fervid elo- 
quence attracted large congregations, inclu- 
ding many churchmen. On several occasions 
he found it necessary to defend the cause of 
the dissenters at the bar of the General Court. 
In one instance Peyton Randolph, the king's 
Attorney General, made an elaborate argu- 
ment to prove that the act of Toleration did 
not extend to Virginia. When Davies, by 
permission, rose to reply, a titter ran through 
the court, li vanished however at the first 



* Dr. A. Alexander in the communication to the Watch- 
man and Obsi rvet before cit ed. 

f Rev. John R idgers, who accompanied Davies, finding 
it impossible to obtain from the G vernuionl permission to 
settle in Virginia, returned to the North. Miller's Life of 
Rodger's cited by Dr. Alexin ler, ubi supr.i. 



1723-49.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



117 



sentence that he uttered. He contended 
that it' the Toleration Act did not extend to 
Virginia, then neither did the act of Uni- 
formity. His masterly argument commanded 
admiration, and, during his stay in Williams- 
burg, he received many civilities, especially 
from Dr. Blair and Sir William Gooch. And 
when Davies visited England some \ ears af- 
ter, he obtained from Sir Dudley Eider, the 
king's Attorney General, a decision that the 
Toleration Act did extend to Virginia. Pey- 
ton Randolph, his "old adversary," happened 
to be in London at the same time. 

Sir William Gooch had now been governor 
of Virginia for twenty-two years, when 14th 
of August, 1749,] he left the colony amidst 
the regrets of the people. Notwithstanding 
an occasional flexibility of principles, he was 
a man of virtuous character, and this together 
with singular amenity of manners, made him 
uncommonly popular. His zeal for the church 
betrayed him, towards the close of his adminis- 
tration, into something of intolerance, yet he 
seems to have commanded the esteem and re- 
specteven of dissenters.* During his adminis- 
tration, from 1728 to 1749, the number of the 
Virginians had nearly doubled and there had 
been added one third to the extent of their 
settlements, t 

The government devolved upon Robinson, 
president of the council; but he dying within 
a icw days, Thomas Lee succeeded as presi- 
dent. The duke of Albemarle \ was now 



* Campbell, p. 301. Rev. Samuel Davies s] 
Gooch and the council as follows :— " The Hon. Sir Wi] 
liam Gooch, our late governor, discovered a ready disposi- 
tion to allow us all claimable privileges and the greatest 
aversion to persecuting measures; but considei 
shocking reports spread abroad coneerniri ■ us, <\ 
malignants, it was no great wonder the council disi ovi i ed 
a considerable reluctance to tolerate us. Had it not been 
fortius, 1 persuade mysell they would have shown them- 
selves the guardians of our legal privileges as w< II 
erous patriots to their country, which is the charai 
erally given them." 

f Chalmers' Introduction, vol. 2, p. 202. 

| Of Lord Albemarle, then ambassador in Pans, Horace 
Walpole says : — " It was convenient to him t<> be anj w here 
but in England. His debts were excessive, though he was 
ambassador, Stole, Governor of Virginia, ami 

Colonel of a regiment of guards. His figure was enti 
his i iann( r noble le. The rest of Lis men! 

was i lie interest Lady Albemarle had with the king through 
Lady Yarmouth. He had all his life imitated the French 
manners till he came to Pans, where he never conversed 
■with a Frenchman. If go , 

good sense, Lord Albemarleat leasl knew how in distin- 
guish it fiom good nature. He wouid bow to Ins postilion 
while he was ruining his tailor." 



governor-in-chief. This Thomas Lee was 
father of Philip Ludwell, Richard Henry, 
Thomas L, Arthur, Francis Lightfoot ami 
William. As Westmoreland, their native 
county, is distinguished above all others in 
\ irginia, as the birth-place of genius, — so 
perhaps no other Virginian could boast so 
many distinguished sons as presidenl Lee. 
lie was succeeded by Lewis Burwell of Glou- 
cester, an eminent scholar. During his brief 
administration, nine Cherokee chiefs, with 
thirty warriors, visited Williamsburg. A party 
ofthe Notiaways, animated by inveterate hos- 
tility, approached to attack them. The Pre- 
sident, however, effected a reconciliation and 
they sate down and smoked together the ; . 
of peace. * 



* Carter's Creek, (the old seat ofthe Pur wells.) is situa- 
ted on a creek ol thai name and not far back from the 'i nil. 
river. The high, diamond-shaped chimneys and tin 1 pani I- 
ling ofthe interior, remind the visitor that Virginia is truly 
the Ancient Dominion. In the family grave-yard, shaded 
with locusts, overrun with parasites and gi 
following inscriptions are to be found : — 

Here lyeth the Body of 
Lewis Son of Lewis BVRWELL and Abigail 

his w lie on the left hand 

Of ins brother Bacon and 

ter Jane. He departed 
tins life ye l?th day of 
September 1696 in the 15th yeare of his age 

To the Sacred Memory of Abigail, 

the loveing and Beloved wife of Matthew 

llui'weli, ,\( the county ol Glost< r, 

Virginia, Gent, who was descended 

of the illustrious family of Paeons and 
Heiresse of the Honble. Nathaniel Paeon, Esq., 
President ol Virginia, who 
Icing more Honorable m her 
Birth than Vertuous in her Lif 

this WOrld the 12th day ol Nnvela 

lti'.l'i, aged 36 years, having !'■ 
Husband with four sons and 



ith this in; n 1 1 lies the body of Major Nathaniel Bnr- 
lest son o( Major Lewis Burwell, who by a well- 
regulated conduct and linn integrity justly < stabl shi d a 
good reputation. Hedied in the forty-first year ol his age, 
leaving behind him three sons and ne daughtei bj 
beth eldest dai ' iert Carter, E (q, ii 

istMDCCXXl. 

yeth the body of the Honle. Lewis Burwell, son of 

Majr. Lewis Purwell and Lucy his wil unty of 

Gloster, who first manual Abigail Smith of the Family of 
the Bacon . b\ vs horn he hi I foui son: . id six d<t 

i her deatii t< 
William Cole, by whom he also had two sons and three 

rs, and departed this 



US 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXX. 



CHAPTER XXX. 
1752—1755. 

Dinwiddie Governor; George Washington ; His birth and 
family; A Surveyor; Promoted to rank of Major; His 
mission through the Wilderness; Is made Lieut. Colonel; 
Commencement of hostilities between France and Eng- 
land ; Washington surprizes a French party; M. de Ju- 
monville killed; Death of Col. Fry; His character; 
Washington besieged in Fort Necessity; Capitulates; 
Dinwiddie's injudicious orders; Washington resigns, 
Arrival of Braddock ; Washington joins him as aid-de- 
camp; Benjamin Franklin; Braddock's expedition; Brad- 
dock's defeat ; Washington's bravery ; His account of the 
defeat ; Davies ; Washington made Colonel of the Vir- 
ginia Regiment ; Indian incursions; General consterna- 
tion; Patriotism of Davies; Progress of Presbyterian- 
ism. 

A new epoch dawns with the administra- 
tion of Robert Dinwiddie, who arrived in 
Virginia, as Lieutenant Governor, [1752.] In 
his time the name of George Washington be- 
gan to attract the public attention. The third 
son of Augustine Washington he was born 
[22nd February, 1732,] at Bridge's Creek on 
the Potomac, in the county of Westmore- 
land — the eldest child of a second marriage. 
His mother's maiden name was Mary Ball. 
Shortly after the birth of George, his father 
removed to a seat opposite Fredericksburg, 
where he died [1743.] George was now ten 
years of age. He received a plain English 
education. The bent of his early genius 
was so strong towards entering the navy, 
that [1747,] when at the age of fifteen, a 
midshipman's warrant was obtained for him. 
The affectionate opposition of his mother, 
prevented the execution of this scheme. 
[1743.] Lawrence, his eldest brother, mar- 
ried the daughter of the Honorable George 
William Fairfax, and this connection intro- 



Anno Domini 1710, leaving behind him three sons and six 
■daughters. 

In perpetual memory of the virtuous Lucy Burwell the 
loveing and beloved wife of Major Lewis Burwell, of th< 
county of Gloster, in Virginia, long .since deceased, from 
the ancient familyof Higginsons and was the only daughter 
of the valiant Capt. Robert Higginson.one of the first com- 
manders that subdued the country of Virginia from the 
power of the Heathen, who not being more worthy in her 
-birth than virtuous in her life, exchanged this life for a bet- 
ter on the 6th of November in the — yeai of her age — 1675. 



duced George Washington to Lord Fairfax, 
who gave him an appointment as surveyor 
in the Northern Neck of Virginia. * He was 
now little more than sixteen years of age. 
After crossing the first range of the Alle- 
ghanies, the surveying party entered a wil- 
derness where they were exposed to the in- 
clemency of the season, and subjected to 
great fatigues. It was March, but snow still 
lingered in the mountains, and the streams 
were swollen into torrents. The survey- 
lands lay on the South Branch of the Poto- 
mac, about seventy miles above Harper's 
Ferry. This mode of life was well-fitted to 
train young Washington for his future career. 
A knowledge of topography taught him how 
to choose a ground for encampment or for 
battle. Hardy exercise and exposure invig- 
orated a frame naturally athletic and fitted 
him to endure the fatigues of military life. 
He now became acquainted with the habits 
and temper of the Indians and the people of 
the frontier, and grew familiar with the wild 
country which was to be the scene of his 
early military operations. Promoted to the 
place of a public surveyor, he continued to 
engage in this pursuit for three years, except, 
during the rigor of the winter months.! [1751.] 
At the age of nineteen, he was appointed 
one of the adjutants-general of Virginia, with 
the rank of major. In the Autumn of this 
year, he accompanied his brother Lawrence, 
then in declining health, to Barbadoes in the 
West Indies. He returned to Virginia and 
after lingering a short time, died. 

After the arrival of Governor Dinwiddie, 
the colony was divided into four military 
districts, and the Northern one was allotted 
to Major Washington. France was now un- 
dertaking to .stretch a chain of posts from 
Canada to Louisiana, in order to secure a 
control over the boundless and magnificent 
regions West of the Alleghanies, which she 
claimed by a vague title of discovery. Eng- 
land claimed the same territories upongrounds 
equally slender, — a cession f made at the 
Treaty of Lancaster, 1711, from the Six Na- 
lions, or Iroquois, who by an uncertain tra- 
dition, pretended to have conquered those 



• Marshall's Lite of Washington, vol. 1, pp. l-'J. 

t Sparks' Life ol Washington. 

} '2 Writings ol Washington, pp. 13-14, in note. The 
consideration of this cession was £400 paid by Virginia in 
money and goods. 



1752-55.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



119* 



regions at some remote period. A title bet- 
ter than either, — that of the tribes actually 
inhabiting the country, commanded no con- 
sideration from the contending powers. The 
French troops had now commenced estab- 
lishing posts in the territory, on the Ohio, 
claimed by Virginia. Dinwiddie finding it 
necessary to demand a suspension of these 
encroachments, a trusty messenger was want- 
ed, and Major Washington cheerfully under- 
took the hazardous mission. Starting from 
Williamsburg [31st of October, 1753,] he 
reached Wilt's Creek on the 1 1th of Novem- 
ber. Thence accompanied by an Indian, 
a French interpreter, Mr. Gist, an expert 
woodsman, and four other attendants, he 
traversed a savage wilderness, over rugged 
mountains covered with snow and across 
rapid swollen rivers. He reconnoitred the 
face of the country with a sagacious eye and 
selected the confluence of the Monongahela 
and Alleghany rivers, where they form the 
beautiful Ohio, as an eligible site for a fort. 
FortDu-Quesne was afterwards erected there 
by the French. Provided with Indian guides, 
Major Washington ascended the Alleghany 
and delivered Dinwiddie's letter to the French 
commander, Monsieur Le Gardeur de St. 
Pierre, a courteous knight of the order of 
St. Louis. Detained there some days, Wash- 
ington examined the fort and prepared a 
plan and description of it. It was situated 
on a branch of French Creek, about fifteen 
miles South of Lake Erie, and about seven 
hundred and fifty from Williamsburg. When 
he departed, his canoe was hospitably stock- 
ed with liquors and provisions. After a per- 
ilous voyage of six days, he reached Venan- 
go. Accoutred in an Indian dress, he now 
proceeded on foot, accompanied by Gist and 
an interpreter. After three days, the inter- 
preter taking charge of the exhausted horses, 
Major Washington, with a knapsack on his 
back, containing only his papers and food 
and a gun in his hand, pursued his journey 
with no companion but Gist. At a place of ill- 
omened name, Murdering Town, on the 
South East Fork of Beaver Creek, they met 
with an Indian who undertaking to guide 
them through the woods, shot at either the 
Major, or (list, within a short distance, but 
without effect. Gisl would have killed the 
savage on the spot, hut was prevented by the 
prudence of Washington. Upon reaching 



the Alleghany river, they were compelled to> 
sleep on the snow, with no covering save' 
their blankets. The next day they employed 
in making a raft of logs, with the aid only of 
a hatchet. Just as the sun set behind the- 
mountains, they launched it and undertook 
to cross. The river was covered with float- 
ing masses of ice ; by which before they 
were half-way over, they were blocked up 
and near being sunk. Washington putting 
out his setting-pole to stop the raft, was 
thrown by the revulsion into the water, but 
recovered himself by laying hold of one of 
the logs of the raft. He and his companion 
forced to abandon it, betook themselves to 
an island near at hand, where they passed 
the night in wet clothes and without fire. 
(list's hands and feet were frozen. In the 
morning they crossed the river on the ice, 
and passed two or three days at a trading 
post near the spot where the battle of the 
Monongahela was afterwards fought. Wash- 
ington arrived at Williamsburg on the 16th 
of January, after an absence of eleven days,, 
and a journey of 1500 miles, one half through 
an untrodden wilderness. A journal which 
he kept of his route, was published in the 
colonial newspapers and in England.* For 
this hazardous and painful journey he recei- 
ved no compensation, save the bare amount 
of his expenses, f 

St. Pierre's reply being deemed unsatisfac- 
tory, Dinwiddie despatched Capt. Trent with 
a small party to commence a fort at the fork 
of the Ohio. The assembly raised a regi- 
ment of three hundred men. The command 
was given to Colonel Joshua Fry, and Wash- 
ington was made Lieut. Colonel. [April, 
1754.] He obtained leave to proceed with 
two companies to the Great Meadows. At 
Will's creek he learned that an ensign in 
command of Trent's company had surren- 
dered his fortlet to a large French force, t 
This first act of hostility bet ween France and 
England, in North America, took place near 
the site of Pittsburg. In the war that ensu- 
ed, England indeed triumphed gloriously, 
vet that triumph served only to bring on in 



* 2 Sparks' Writings of Washington, pp. -132-117. 

+ II). p. 92. 

( Sparks' Life of Washington, p. -13. Marshall (Lifeof 
Washington, vol 1, p. 1.) »;ivs erroneously, that Wastiing- 
ton received this intelligence at the Great Meadows. See 
2 Writings of Washington, p. t>. 



120 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXX. 



its train the revolt of the colonies and the dis- 
memberment of the empire. 

Lt. Col. Washington ascertaining the cap- 
ture of the fort, (now called Du-Quesne after 
the governor of Canada,) and that a detach- 
ment was then on its march towards his camp, 
determined to anticipate them. Guided by 
friendly Indians, in a dark and rainy night 
he approached the French encampment. At 
day-break on the 28th of May, with forty of 
his own men and a party of Indians, he sur- 
rounded the French. A skirmish ensued; 
M. de Jumonville, the French commander, 
and ten of his ['.arty, were killed and twenty- 
two made prisoners. Of Washington's men, 
one was killed and two or three wounded. 
While the regiment was on its march to join 
the detachment in advance, the command 
devolved, [May 31st,] on Washington, by 
the death of Col. Joshua Fry. This officer, a 
native of England, was educated at Oxford. 
Coming to Virginia, he was appointed pro- 
fessor of mathematics in the college of Wil- 
tnd Mary, and was afterwards a mem- 
ber of the hous« .■esses, and engaged 
in running a boundary line between Virginia 
and North Carolina to the Westward. In 
concert with Peter Jefferson, father of Tho- 
mas, he made a map of Virginia, and he was 
a commissioner at the treaty of Logstown, 
[June 1752.] lie died universally lament- 
ed. * The provisions of the detachment be- 
ing nearly exhausted, and the ground occu- 
pied disadvantageous, a council of war, held 
June 28th at Gist's house, thirteen miles be- 
yond the Great Meadows, advised a retreat, 
and Colonel Washington fell back to the post 
at the Great Meadows, now styled Fort Ne- 
cessity, t His force amounted to about four 
hundred men. A ditch was commenced 
around the stockade. Forty or fifty Indian 
families took shelter in the fort and among 
them Tanacharison, or the Half-king, and 
queen Aliquippa. They proved to be of more 
trouble than advantage, being as spies and 
scouts of some service; in the field useless. 
Before the completion of the ditch, M. de 
Villiers appeared, [.July 3rd, 1754,] before the 
fort Willi nine hundred men, ami. at eleven 
o'clock in the forenoon, commenced an at- 
tack, by firing al the distance of six hundred 
paces. The assailants fought under cover of 

* S;, ;i,ks' Writings ol Washington, vol. 2, p.'JT, in note. 
f 11)., p. 61, in note. 



the trees and high grass on the side of rising 
ground near the fort. They were received 
with intrepidity by the Americans. The rain 
fell heavily during the day, and the trenches 
were filled with water. The engagement 
lasted until eight o'clock in the evening, 
when the French commander having twice 
sounded a parley, it was accepted, and about 
midnight, during a heavy rain, the fort was 
surrendered. By the articles of capitulation 
it was stipulated that Washington's troops, 
retaining their arms (artillery excepted) and 
baggage, should march out of the fort on the 
following morning, with drums beating and 
colors flying, and return home unmolested. 
The articles of surrender according to the 
French copy, implied an acknowledgment 
on the part of Washington, that M. de Ju- 
monville had been assassinated. It was, 
however, alleged by Washington, that he had 
been misled by the inaccuracy of Vanbraam, 
the interpreter, a Dutchman. * It was so 
stormy at the time, that he could not give a 
written translation of the articles, and they 
could scarcely keep a candle lighted to read 
them by, so that it became necessary to rely 
upon the interpreter's word. The officers 
present averred that the word assassination 
was not mentioned and that the terms em- 
ployed were " the death of Jumo?7vi/?c," Of 
the Virginia regiment, three hundred and live 
in number, twelve were killed and forty-three 
wounded. The loss of Capt. Mackay's in- 
dependent company was not ascertained. 
The Indians were with difficulty restrained 
from plundering the baggage. All the hor- 
ses and cattle having been destroyed by 
the French, it became necessary to leave 
a large part of the baggage and to convey 
the remainder, with the wounded, on the 
backs of the soldiers. Thus they returned 
to Will's Creek, whence Colonel Washing- 
ton proceeded to Williamsburg. The assem- 
bly voted him thanks and gave him three 
hundred | >, to be distributed among his 

men. But a good ileal of dissatisfaction was 
expressed at some of the articles ol' the ca- 
pitulation when they were made public, f 
The Virginia regiment, quartered at Win- 

* He and Capt. Stobo were retained by de Villiers as 
hostages. They were sent to Quebi c, and thence to Eng- 
land, and appear not to have returned to \ irginia. 1\1. de 
Villiers was brother to de Jumonville. .See 2 WasUi 
ton's Writings, pp. 460, -105, 408. 

t 2 Writings of Washington, pp. 456-459. 



1752-55.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



121 



Chester, was re-in forced by some companies 
from Maryland and North Carolina. Din- 
widdie injudiciously ordered this force to 
march at once again over the Alleghanies 
and expel the French from Fort Du Quesne, 
or build another near it. This little army, 
now under command of Col. Innes of North 
Carolina, did not exceed half the number of 
the enemy, and was unprovided for a winter 
campaign. But the assembly making no ap- 
propriation for the expedition, it was for- 
tunately abandoned. Dinwiddie censured 
the assembly's " republican way of thinking," 
and wrote to the ministry that " the progress 
of the French would never be effectually op- 
posed but by means of an act of parliament, 
compelling the colonies to contribute to the 
common cause, independently of assem- 
blies." This scheme had been broached a 
long time before. During the winter, Din- 
widdie, under pretence of peremptory orders 
from England, dissolved the Virginia regi- 
ment into independent companies. The ef- 
fect of this upon Washington, would have 
been to reduce him to the grade of Captain, 
and to subject him to officers whom he had 
commanded. He therefore resigned and 
passed the winter at Mt. Vernon. He was 
now aged 22. In a letter to Col. William 
Fitzhugh, dated November 15th, 1751, lie 
said : — " if you think me capable of holding 
a commission, that has neither rank nor 
emolument annexed to it, you must enter- 
tain a very contemptible opinion of my weak- 
ness, and believe me to be more empty than 
the commission itself."* 

[February 20th, 1755.] Genera! Braddock 
arrived in Virginia with two British regiments, 
each consisting of five hundred men — the 
44th and 48th, commanded the one by Sir 
Peter Halket, the other by Colonel Dunbar. 
At Braddock's invitation, Washington enter- 
ed Ins family as a volunteer, retaining his 
former rank. The General's head-quarters 
were at first at Alexandria,! and his troops 
were stationed in thai place and m the neigh- 
borhood, until they ma re 1km I for Will's Geek. 

[April 13th.] The governors of Massachu- 
setts, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and 
Virginia, met General Braddock at Alexan- 



* 2. Writings of Washington, p. 07, in note. 
t Then sometimes called Belhaven. the original naine 
of that town. 



dria, to concert a plan of operations. Col. 
Washington was courteously received by the 
governors, especially by Shirley, with whose 
manners and character he was quite fascina- 
ted. Overtaking Braddock at Fredericktown, 
Maryland, Washington accompanied him to 
Winchester and thence to Fort Cumberland, 
on Will's Creek. Early in Ma} , "Washington 
was made an aid-de-camp to the General. 
The army now consisted of the two regiments 
of British regulars, numbering 1,000, and as 
many provincials, including the fragments of 
two independent companies from New York, 
one of which was commanded by Captain 
Horatio Gates, afterwards a major-general in 
the Revolutionary War. There were also 
thirty sailorsdetachedby admiral Keppel, who 
commanded the squadron that brought over 
the two regiments. The army was detained 
by the difficulty of procuring provisions and 
conveyances. The apathy of the colonial 
legislatures, and the bad faith of the con- 
tractors, so irritated Braddock, that he indul- 
ged in vehement denunciations against the 
colonies. These led to frequent disputes be- 
tween him and Washington, who however 
found the General deaf to his arguments on 
that subject. The plan of employing pack- 
horses for transportation, instead of wagons, 
suggested by Washington, was, after some 
delay, in some measure adopted. Benjamin 
Franklin, deputy postmaster general of the 
colonies, visited Braddock at this time for the 
purpose (or as some allege under the pre- 
text) of facilitating the transmission of a mail 
to and from the army. Learning the Gene- 
ral's embarrassment, he undertook to procure 
the requisite number of horses and wagons 
from the Pennsylvania fanners and sent them 
in a short time to Will's Creek. * Thus 
Franklin and Washington were unconscious- 
ly co-operating with a British General in a 
movement destined in its consequences to 
dismember the empire. The army with its 
baggage, extending four miles in length, 
moved from Will's Creek, [June 12th.] 
Within two days Washington was seized 
with a fever and obliged to travel in a cover- 
ed wagon. Braddock, however, continued 
to consult him, and he advised the general to 
leave his heavy artillery and baggage with a 

* Gordon's History of Pennsylvania. It was a longtime 
before Franklin recovered compensation for the fanners for 
tins service. Shirley at length paid tiie amount, £20,000. 



16 



122 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXX. 



rear division and press forward with expedi-. 
tion to Fort DuQuesne. In a council of 
war it was determined that Braddock should 
advance with twelve hundred select men, and 
Co]. Dunbar remain with a rear-guard of 
about six hundred. * The advance corps pro- 
ceeded only nineteen miles in four days. 
Washington was now compelled to stop (by 
the general's order) his physician declaring 
that his life would be jeoparded by a con- 
tinuance with the army, and Braddock pro- 
mising that he should be brought up with the 
army, before it reached Fort DuQuesne. 
On the day before the battle of the Monon- 
gahela, Washington in a wagon rejoined 
the army at the mouth of the Youghiogany 
river and fifteen miles from Fort Du Quesne. 
On the morning of the 9th of July, 1155, 
Braddock's troops, in the highest spirits, con- 
fident of entering the gates of Fort DuQuesne 
triumphantly in a icw hours, crossed the Mo- 
nongahela, and advanced along the South- 
ern margin of it. Washington in after life 
was heard to declare it the most beautiful 
spectacle that he had ever witnessed, — the 
brilliant uniform of the soldiers, arranged in 
columns and marching in exact order; the 
sun gleaming on their burnished arms; the 
Monongahela (lowing tranquilly by on the 
one hand; on the other the primeval forest 
projecting its shadows in sombre magnifi- 
cence.! At one o'clock the army had cross- 
ed the river at a point ten miles from Fort 
DuQuesne. From the river a level plain 
extended Northward nearly half a mile ; 
thence the ground gradually ascending ter- 
minated in hills. The road from the fording- 
place to the Fort, led across this plain, up 
this ascent and through an uneven country, 
covered with woods. | Beyond the plain, on 
both sides of the road, were ravines. Three 
hundred men under Lieut. Colonel Gage, ^ 
made the advanced party and it was imme- 
diately followed by another of two hundred. 
Next came Braddock with the artillery, the 
mam body and the baggage. Brigadier Gen- 
eral Sir Peter Halket was second in com- 
mand. No sooner had the army crossed the 



* 2 Washington's Writings, p. 82. A number of the 
men were disabled by sickness. 

t 2 Washington's Writing*, p. 468-470. 

J See plan of the ground in 2 Washington's Writings, 
P- "0. his statement, therefore, does not appear entitled to cre< 

<J> Subsequently commander of British troop* at Boston. See Howe's Hist. Coll. ol Va., p. 97. 



river, than a sharp firing was heard upon the 
advanced parties, who were now ascending 
the hill about a hundred yards beyond the 
termination of the plain. A heavy discharge 
of musquetry was poured in upon the front 
and right flank ; yet no enemy was visible, 
and their position was only discovered by 
the smoke of their muskets. A random and 
ineffective fire was returned. Braddock has- 
tened forward ; but the van already over- 
whelmed with consternation by the savage 
war-whoop, fell back upon the main body, 
communicating a panic from which the 
troops could not be recovered. Braddock 
and his officers made every effort to rally 
them, in vain. In this confusion they remain- 
ed for three hours, huddled together, doing 
the enemy little injury and shooting one 
another. The Virginians* alone retained 
their presence of mind and behaved with the 
utmost bravery. They adopted the Indian 
mode of combat and fought each man for 
himself from behind a tree. This was done 
in spite of the orders of Braddock, who still 
endeavored to form his men into platoons 
and columns, as if they had been manoeuvring 
in the plains of Flanders, or parading in 
Hyde Park. The French and Indians, en- 
tirely concealed in deep ravines and behind 
trees and high grass, kept up a deadly tire, 
singling out their objects. Colonel Wash- 
ington, shortly after the commencement of 
the engagement, was the only aid not wound- 
ed. Although still feeble from the effects of 
his illness, on him now devolved the whole 
duty of carrying the General's orders, and he 
rode a conspicuous mark in every direction. 
Two horses were killed under him : four bul- 
lets penetrated his coat. But he escaped un- 
hurt, while every other officer on horseback 
was either killed or wounded. Dr. Craik 
afterwards said, " I expected every moment 
to see him fall. His duty and situation ex- 
posed him to every danger. Nothing but 
the superintending care of Providence could 
have saved him from the fate of all around 
him." After an action of three hours, Brad- 
dock, under whom three horses had been 
Killed, received a mortal wound,! and his 



* They were clothed in blue. Weems' Life of Well- 
ington. 

f A provincial soldier. Tom FaUSPtf., afterwards pro- 
(esse.l, 01 confessed, that he had killed General Braddock. 
Bui Fausetl was .1 half-savane and habitually 

P- 



1752-55.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



123 



troops now lied in great disorder and could 
not be rallied until they had crossed the Mo- 
nongahela. The wounded General, by the 
care of Colonel Stewart, of the Virginia 
troops, and his servant, was brought off from 
the field at first on a small tumbril cart, then 
on a horse, finally by the soldiers. He ex- 
pired on the fourth day after the defeat and 
was buried in the road, near Fort Necessity, 
Washington reading the funeral service on 
the occasion. More than half of the army 
were killed or wounded ; two-thirds of them 
by their own bullets, according to Washing- 
ton's conjecture. Sir Peter Halket was killed 
on the field. Secretary Shirley was shot 
through the head. Colonels Burton, Gage 
and Orme, Major Sparks, brigade Major Hal- 
ket, Captain Morris, &,c, were wounded. 
There were ten Captains killed and live 
wounded, fifteen lieutenants killed and twen- 
ty-two wounded. Out of eighty-six offi- 
cers, twenty-six were killed and thirty-seven 
wounded. The whole number of killed was 
estimated at three hundred, or more, and as 
many wounded were brought off. The ag- 
gregate of killed and wounded was 1]{. 
The enemy's force, variously estimated, did 
not exceed 850 men, of whom 600, it was 
conjectured, were Indians. The number of 
the French loss, according to an imperfect 
return was killed 33, including three officers, 
one of whom wasBeaujeu, chief in command: 
wounded 34, including four officers. The 
French and Indians being covered by ra- 
vines, the balls of the English passed harm- 
less over their heads. A charge with the bay- 
onet would have at once driven them from 
their lurking places and put them to flight, 
or at least dispersed them in the woods. 

The remains of the defeated detachment 
retreated to the rear division in precipitate 
disorder, leaving the road behind them strew- 
ed with trophies of the disaster. Shortly 
alter, Col. Dunbar marched with the remain- 
ing regulars to Philadelphia. Col. Washing- 
ton returned home disappointed, mortifh I. 
indignant at the conduct of the re 
troops, In a letter to Governor Dinwiddie, 
giving an account of it, he said : ■■They were 
struck with such an inconceivable panic, 
that nothing but confusion and disobedienct 
of orders prevailed among them. The offi- 
cers in genera] behaved with incomparable 
bravery, for which they greatly suffered, there 



being upwards of sixty killed and wounded, 
a large proportion out of what we had. The 
Virginia companies behaved like men and 
died like soldiers, for 1 believe out of three 
companies on the ground that day, scarcely 
thirty men were left alive. Captain Peyrou- 
nv : and all his officers down to a corporal 
were killed. Captain Poulson had almost 
as hard'a fate, for only one of his escaped. 
In short the dastardly behavior of the regu- 
lar troops (so called) exposed those who 
were inclined to do their duty, to almost cer- 
tain death, and at length in spite of every 
effort to the contrary, they broke and ran as 
sheep before hounds, leaving the artillery, 
ammunition, provisions, baggage, and in 
short every thing, a prey to the enemy, and 
when we endeavored to rally them, in hopes 
of regaining the ground and what we had 
left upon it, it was with as little success as if 
we had attempted to have stopped the wild 
bears of the mountains or the rivulets with 
our feet, for they would break by in spite of 
every effort to prevent it." t Braddock was 
a man of bravery, but net of genius which 
knows how to bend to circumstances. Pas- 
sionate, headstrong, irritated, not without 
some just grounds, against the provinces, he 
rejected the proffer of 'Wellington to lead 
the provincials, who were accustomed to 
border warfare, in advance. But. he atoned 
for these errors by his death, t 

Washington retired to .Mount Vernon. His 
reputation was greatly elevated by his gallant- 
ry at the battle of the Monongahela. The el- 
oquent Da vies in a note to a patriotic discourse 
delivered [August 17th, 1755,] before Capt. 
Overton's company of Independent volun- 
teers, raised in Hanover county, said : " As 
a remarkable instance of this, 1 may point 
oe.t to the public that heroic youth. Colonel 
Washington, whom I cannot hut hope Prov- 
idence has hitherto preserved in >o signal a 
manner for some important service to his 
country." § 

During the French and Indian wars, Da- 
vies often employed his eloquence in anima- 
ting the patriotism of the colony. After 
Braddock's defeat, such was the general con- 



" \ Frem hman, by hirth. 

t Washington's Writings, p. S 'T. 

', Clial rs, true to his unvarying prejudice against the 

ilonics, jusi iI'h's Braddock's conduct. 

i) Davies' Sermons, (Ed. New York, L828,) vol 3, p 33. 



124 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXI. 



sternation, that many seemed ready to de- 
sert the country. On this occasion Davies 
delivered a discourse, in which he declared, 
" Christians should be patriots. What is that 
religion good for, that leaves men cowards 
upon the appearance of danger? And per- 
mit me to say, that I am particularly solici- 
tous, that you my brethren of the dissenters 
should act with honor and spirit in this junc- 
ture, as it becomes loyal subjects, lovers of 
your country and courageous Christians. 
That is a mean, sordid, cowardly soul, that 
would abandon his country and shift for his 
own little self, when there is any probability 
of defending it. To give the greater weight 
to what I say, I may take the liberty to tell 
you, I have as little personal interest, as lit- 
tle to lose in this colony, as most of you. If 
I consulted either my safety or my temporal 
interest, I should soon remove with my fam- 
ily to Great Britain, or the Northern colo- 
nies, where I have had very inviting offers. 
Nature has not formed me for a military life, 
nor furnished me with any great degree of 
fortitude and courage; yet I must declare 
that after the most calm and impartial delib- 
eration, I am determined not to leave my 
country, while there is any prospect of de- 
fending it." * 

Dejection and alarm vanished under his 
eloquence and at the conclusion every man 
seemed prepared to say : " Let us march 
against the enemy !" Captain Meredith's 
company was now made up in a few min- 
utes. Davies retiring from the muster ground 
was followed by the whole regiment, who 
pressed around him, to catch every word 
that tell from his lips. He again addressed 
them until exhausted by speaking. It is 
probable that Patrick Henry caught the spark 
of eloquence from Davies. At the age of 
fourteen Henry accompanied his mother, to 
hear Davies, at the Fork Church in Hano- 
ver and there can be no doubt but that he 
often heard him in after years. Henry al- 
ways remarked, that Mr. Davies was " the 

* Davies' Sermons, vol. 3, p. 169. Sen.ion (on thede- 
feat of General Braddoc.k going to Fori DuQuesne,) de- 
livered in Hanover, July 20lh, 1755. Memoir of Davies. 
Evan, and Lit. Mag., v.. I. 2. I will line correct an error. 
On a preceding page it is stated thai Davies after the de- 
livery of an argument liefore the General Court, was treat- 
ed with great civility by Dr. [James] Blair and Sir Wil- 
I win Gooch. Dr. Blair was noi at this time living. It was 
James lilair, nephew of the Doctor, and a member ol the 
General Court, who .showed attentions to Davies. 



greatest orator he had ever heard." * Pres- 
byterianism steadily increased in Virginia 
under the auspices of Davies and his suc- 
cessors, particularly Graham, Smith, Wad- 
del t and Brown, and at the revolutionary 
era it had become an important element of 
social organization of the colony, t 



CHAPTER XXXI. 
1755—1763. 

Washington; Sufferings of the frontier; Fort Loudoun ; 
Conference of Governors ; Dinwiddie succeeded by Blair ; 
Miscellaneous affairs ; Fauquier Governor; Forbes' ex- 
pedition against. Foil DuQuesne; Washington member 
of Assembly; His Marriage; "The Parson's cause;" 
Patrick Henry. 

[April 1755.] The frontier suffered another 
savage irruption. Washington beheld with 
emotion calamities which he could not avert. 
He was at every step thwarted in his exer- 
tions by a general perverseness and insubor- 
dination, aggravated by the hardships of the 
service and the want of system. At length, 
by persevering solicitations, he prevailed on 
the assembly to adopt more energetic mili- 
tary regulations. The discipline then intro- 
duced was what, at the present day, would be 
reckoned extremely rigorous. Severe flogging 
was in ordinary use. The penalty for fighting 
was five hundred lashes, for drunkenness one 
hundred. A Capt. Dagworthy, at Fort Cum- 
berland, commissioned by Governor Sharpe 
of Maryland, refusing to obey Washington's 
orders, the dispute was referred to General 
Shirley, commander-in-chief of his majesty's 
armies in America, who was then at Boston. 
Colonel Washington, accompanied by his aid- 
de-camp Colonel George Mercer, left Alex- 
andria, [February 4th, l?5b',J and on his route 
passed through Philadelphia, New York, 
New London, Newport and Providence. He 
\isited the Governors of Pennsylvania and 
New York and spent several days in each of 
the principal cities. lie was well received 
by General Shirley, with whom he continued 
ten days, mixing with the society of Boston, 
attending the sessions of the legislature, and 
visiting Castle William. During the tour he 

* Memoir of Rev James Waddel, by his grandson, Rev. 
Dr. .lames VV. Alexander. 

t The original ol tin; Blind Preacher ol Wirt's British 
SpJ • 

I Memoir ul Samuel I'avies, in Evan, and Lil. Mag., 
vol. 2. 



1755-63. 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



125 



everywhere was looked upon with interest as 
the hero of Monongahela. Gen. Shirley de- 
cided the contested point in liis favor, and lie 
returned to Virginia after an absence of seven 
weeks. The Virginia regiment was now aug- 
mented to fifteen hundred men. Peyton Ran- 
dolph, the attorney general, raised a volunteer 
company of one hundred gentlemen, who, 
however, proved quite unlit forthe frontier ser- 
vice. The distress of the border country in- 
creased. Winchester was almost the only set- 
tlement west of the Blue Ridge, on the north- 
ern frontier, that was not deserted. About 
the end of April a party of French and In- 
dians returned to FortDuQuesne, laden with 
plunder, prisoners and scalps. Fort Lou- 
doun was now commenced at Winchester 
under the superintendence of Washington. 
It stood at the northern extremity of Lou- 
doun street, covering an area of about half an 
acre. A well was sunk chiefly through a bed 
of limestone. The batteries mounted twenty- 
four guns. Vestiges of this work still remain. 
Fort Cumberland was also built 11755] in the 
fork between Will's Creek and the North 
Branch of the Potomac, on the Maryland 
side, about fifty-five miles north-west of Win- 
chester. A town has since arisen on the 
spot.* [August 1715.] The Assembly of Vir- 
ginia offered a reward of <£10 for the scalp of 
every male Indian above twelve years of age. 
It is remarkable, that as late as the year 1756 
the Blue Ridge of mountains was the boun- 
dary of Virginia and great difficulty was 
found in completing a single regiment to 
protect the inhabitants of the border coun- 
try from the cruel irruptions of the Indians. 
Yet at this time the population of the colony 
was estimated at 293,000 of whom 173,000 
were white and 120,000 black, and the mili- 
tia Mere computed at 35,000 men lit to bear 
arms, t A long interval of peaceful pros- 
perity had enervated the planters of lowland 
Virginia; luxury had introduced effeminate 
manners and dissolute habits. "To cat and 
drink, delicately and freely; to feast, and 
dance, and riot; to pamper cocks and horses ; 
to observe the anxious, important, interesting, 

• Kercheval's Historj of the Valley, pp. 90 31. 

" + 2 Sparks' Writings ol A'a ;t p. 154 in note. 

Din widdie wrote to Fox, (father ol Charles James,) one ol 
the Secretaries of State. "We dare not venture to part 
v\nh any of our w. 1 1 1 1 o men any distance as v\c must have 
a watchful eye over our negro slaves who are upwards ol 
ono hundred thousand.'' 



event — which of two horses can run fastest ; 
or which of two cocks can flutter and spur 
most dexterously; these are the grand af- 
fairs that almost engross the attention of 
some of our great men. And little low-lived 
sinners imitate them to the utmost of their 
power. The low-born sinner can leave a 
needy family to starve at home and add one 
to the rabble at a horse-race or a cock-fight. 
He can get drunk and turn himself into a 
beast with the lowest as well as his betters 
with more delicate liquors.'' Burk, the his- 
torian of Virginia, who was far from being a 
rigid censor, noticing the manners of the 
Virginians during the hall' century preceding 
the revolution, says: "The character of the 
people for hospitality and expense was now 
decided and the wealth of the land-proprie- 
tors, particularly on the banks of the rivers, 
enabled them to indulge their passions even 
to profusion and excess. Drinking parties 
were then fashionable in which the strong- 
est head or stomach gained the victory. 
The moments that could be spared from the 
bottle were devoted to cards. Cock-light- 
ing was also fashionable." t 

Governor Dinwiddie's zeal in military af- 
fairs outstripped his knowledge, and Wash- 
ington was distracted by inconsistent, ill- 
judo-ed and impracticable orders and harass- 
ed by petulant complaints. It was indeed 
believed that if he could have withstood the 
strong interest arrayed in favor of Washing- 
ton, the Governor would have rather given 
the command to Col. Lines, although far 
less competent and tin inhabitant of another 
colony, North Carolina. Dinwiddie's parti- 
ality to Lines was attributed to national pre- 
judice, for they were both natives of Scot- 
land, t The entire tenor of tin- Governor's 
correspondence with Washington, was un- 
gracious, peremptory, querulous, and it was 
not seldom openly offensive. Such treatment, 
from a British governor, together with the 
invidious distinctions drawn between colo- 
nial and British officers, naturally tended to 
abate Washington's loyalty and to lit him for 

* I ) i\ ies' Sei limns, vol. '!, p. 100. 

f [iurk's Hist, ol V.i., vol. a, p. 402. On the ssi 
he says : " I find in 17 f! k main ol cocks advertised to be 
elwuen Gloucester and James river. The cocks 

dde were called Bacon's Thunderbolts aim I 

, I, rated n lip] ol 16" 

; Sp:uks' Writings of Washington, vol. 2, p 
note. 



12G 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXI. ' 



the great part that he was destined to per- 
forin in the war of independence. 

Lord Loudoun, the newly appointed gov- 
ernor of Virginia and commander-in-chief 
in the colonies, now arrived in America * 
and called a conference of Governors and 
military officers to meet him at Philadelphia. 
Washington by the ungracious and reluc- 
tant leave of Dinwiddie attended this con- 
ference. He had previously transmitted to 
the feeble and incompetent Loudoun an 
elpborate statement of the posture of af- 
fairs in Virginia, t exhibiting the insufficien- 
cy of the militia and the necessity of an 
offensive system of operations. Loudoun, 
however, determined to direct his main el- 
forts against Canada and to leave only twelve 
hundred men in the Middle and Southern 
provinces. Instead of receiving aid, Vir- 
ginia was required to send lour hundred men 
to South Carolina. The Virginia regiment 
was now reduced to a thousand men. Col. 
Washington, however, insisted that a favor- 
able conjuncture was now presented for 
capturing Fort DuQuesne, since the French 
attacked in Canada would be unable to re- 
inforce that post. But his advice, although 
approved by Dinwiddie, was unheeded. The 
campaign of the North proved inglorious ; 
that of the South ineffectual. Washington 
was confined by ill health at Mount Vernon 
for several months. [January, 17:58.] Rob- 
ert Dinwiddie, after an administration of live 
years, ceasing to be Governor, sailed for 
England, not much regretted by the Virgin- 
ians. A scholar, wit, and amiable compan- 
ion, in private life he commanded esteem. 
He was, however, unequal to the trying po- 
sition in which he found himself at the head 
of affairs in Virginia. In pecuniary matters 
his integrity was not unsuspected. With 
the temper so often displayed by the govern- 
ors of the ancient Dominion, nor the less by 
him because he was a parvenu, he was ser- 
vile to those above him, to those below haugh- 
ty and overbearing. Ilis place was filled for 
a short time by John Blair, president of the 
council.! Samuel Davies, by invitation, 
preached to the militia of Hanover county 

* Marshal, (Life ..I' Washington, vol. 1, p. 17,)sayslhal 
Loudoun came to Virginia. Sparks, (Life of Washington, 
p., ss ) says thai he did not. 

f Sparks' Writings ol Washington, vol. 2, pp. 217-230. 

t 2 Sparks' Writings of Washington, pp. 270-271, in 
note. 



in Virginia, at a general muster, [May 8th, 
1758,] with a view to raise a company for 
Capt. Samuel Meredith. In this discourse 
Davies said, " Need I inform you what bar- 
barities and depredations a mongrel race of 
Indian savages and French papists have per- 
petrated upon our frontiers? How many 
deserted or demolished houses and planta- 
tions ? How wide an extent of country 
abandoned ? How many poor families obli- 
ged to fly in consternation and leave their all 
behind them ? What breaches and separa- 
tions between the nearest relations ? What 
painful ruptures of heart from heart? What 
shocking dispersions of those once united 
by the strongest and most endearing ties ? 
Some lie dead, mangled with savage wounds, 
consumed to ashes wish outrageous flames, 
or torn and devoured by the beasts of the 
wilderness, while their bones lie whitening in 
the sun and serve as tragical memorials of the 
fatal spot where they fell. Others have been 
dragged away captives and made the slaves 
of imperious and cruel savages: others have 
made their escape and live to lament their 
butchered or captivated friends and relations. 
In short, our frontiers have been drenched 
with the blood of our fellow-subjects through 
the length of a thousand miles ; and new 
wounds are still opening. We in these in- 
land parts of the country, are as yet unmo- 
lested through the unmerited mercy of Heav- 
en. But let us only glance a thought to the 
Western extremities of our body politic, and 
what melancholy scenes open to our view ! 
Now perhaps while I am speaking, now 
while you are secure and unmolested, our 
fellow-subjects there may be feeling the ca- 
lamities [ am describing. Now perhaps the 
savage shouts and whoops of Indians and 
the screams and groans of some butchered 
family may be mingling their horrors and 
circulating their tremendous echoes through 
the wilderness id' rocks and mountains.'' 

The earl of Loudoun had been commis- 
sioned to fill Dinwiddie's place, but his mili- 
tary avocations prevented him from entering 
on the duties of the gubernatorial office. 
The elder Pitt, now minister, had resolved 

* Davies' Sermons, vol. :?, p. 08. Does not this closing 
sentence resemble somewhat the following from Fisher 
Ames' speech <>n the Western posts? " I can fancy that 
I listen lo i in' yells of savage vengeance and the shrieks of 
torture. Already they seem t" sigh in the Western wind, 
aiieady they mingle with every echo liom the mountains." 



1755-63.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



127 



on a vigorous prosecution of the war in 
America. The department of the Middle 
and Southern colonies was entrusted to Gen- 
eral Forbes and he was ordered to under- 
take an expedition against Fort DuQuesne. 
Washington rejoined the army. Forbes hav- 
ing deterred the campaign too late, l he 
French and Indians renewed their merciless 
warfare. In the county of Augusta sixty 
persons were murdered. The Virginia troops 
were augmented to two thousand men, di- 
vided into two regiments, — one under Wash- 
ington, who was still commander-in-chief; 
the other the new regiment under Col. Wm. 
By id. * 

Francis Fauquier, appointed governor, now 
reached Virginia. [June 24th 1758,] the 
Virginia troops left Winchester and early 
in July halted at fort Cumberland, t At 
Colonel Washington's suggestion, the light 
Indian dress, hunting shirt and blanket, was 
adopted by the army. Contrary to his ad- 
vice, Forbes instead of marching immediately 
upon the Ohio by Braddock's road, under- 
took to construct another from Raystown in 
Pennsylvania. The General, it was suppo- 
sed, was influenced by the Pennsylvanians 
to open for them a more direct avenue of 
intercourse with the West.]: The new road 
caused great delay. Major Grant had been 
detached from the advanced post at the 
Loyal Hanna, with eight hundred men to re- 
connoitre the country about Fort DuQuesne. 
An action occurred ; the detachment was de- 
feated ; Grant and Major Lewis were made 
prisoners. Of the eight Virginia officers pres- 
ent five were slain, a sixth wounded, and 
a seventh captured. Captain Bullit and 
fifty Virginians defended the baggage with 
great resolution and contributed to save the 
remnant of the detachment. He was the 
only officer who escaped unhurt. Of one 
hundred and sixty-two Virginians, sixty-two 



* Of Wrstnvpr, on the James river. The total strength ol 
Col. Byrd's regiment at Fort Cumberland Augt. 3d, 1758 
was 359. The officers were Lieut. Col. George Mercer, 
Major Wm. Peachy, Captains S. Munford, Thomas ( locki , 
Hancock Eustace, John Field, John Posey, Thomas 
Fleming, John Roote ami Samuel Meredith. Blund pa 
pers, vol. 1, p. 150. 

j See in Bland papers, vol. 1, pp. 9-10, Roliert Mun- 
ford's letter dated .,t the Camp near Fori Cumberland, July 
6th, 1758. This Robert Munford was father of the trans 
lator of Horner, and grandfather to George W, Munford, 
Esq., Clerk of the Assembly of Virginia. 

J. Bland Paieis, vol, 1, p. 13. 



were killed and two wounded. Grant's 
total loss was two hundred and seventy three 
killed and forty-two wounded. When the 
main army was set in motion, Col. Wash- 
ington requested to be put in advance. 
Forbes profiting by the fatal error of Brad- 
dock, complied with this request. Wash- 
ington was called to head-quarters, attended 
the councils of war and at the General's de- 
sire drew up a line ol" march and order of 
battle. * The main body left Raystown, [8th 
of October, 1758,] and reached the camp at 
Loyal Hanna early in November. The troops 
were worn out with fatigue and exposure ; 
winter had set in and more than fifty miles 
of rugged country yet intervened between 
them and Fort DuQuesne. A council of 
war declared it unadvisable to proceed fur- 
ther in that campaign. Just at this conjunc- 
ture, however, three prisoners were brought 
in, and they gave such a report of the feeble 
state of the garrison at the Fort, that it w.as 
determined to push forward at once. Wash- 
ington with his provincials opened the way. 
The French reduced to five hundred men 
and deserted by the Indians, set fire to the 
Fort and retired down the Ohio. Forbes 
took possession of the post on the next day, 
[25th of November, 1758.] The works Mere 
repaired and it was now named Fort Pitt. 
An important city called after the same illus- 
trious statesman has been reared near the 
spot. Forbes, whose health had been de- 
clining during the campaign, died shortly af- 
terwards at Philadelphia. He was a native 
of Scotland and educated as a physician; an 
estimable and brave man of fine military 
talents. 

Washington after furnishing two hundred 
men from his regiment, as a garrison for Fort 
Pitt, then considered as within the jurisdic- 
tion of Virginia, marched back lo Winches- 
ter. Thence he proceeded to Wiliiamsburo- 
to take his seat in the assembly, havino- been 
elected by the county of Frederick. He re- 
signed his military commission in December 



+ These may I" 1 seen in Sparks' Writings of Washing- 
ton, vol •_'. pp. 31:!. 315 Forbes' army consisted of 1,200 
Highlanders, 350 Royal Americans, 2,700 provincials from 
Pennsylvania, 1,600 from Virginia, two or three hundred from 
Maryland, and 2 companies from North Carolina, makm* in 
all, including the wagoners, between six and seven thou- 
sand men Sparks' Writings of Washington, vol. 2, p. 
289 in note. This army was five months in reaching the 
Ohio and found at length no enemy. 



128 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXI. 



having been engaged in service for more than 
five years. His health had been impaired 
and domestic affairs required his attention. 
[6th of January, 1759,] be was married to 
Martha, widow of John Parke Custis and 
daughter of John Dandridge. In her were [ 
united wealth, beauty and an amiable tem- 
per. During this session of the assembly, 
an incident occurred, which has been thus 
described by Wirt : <; By a vote of the house, 
the speaker, Mr. John Robinson, was direc- 
ted to return their thanks to Colonel Wash- 
ington, on behalf of the colony, for the dis- 
tinguished military services which he had 
rendered to his country. As soon as Col. 
Washington took his seat, Mr. Robinson, in 
obedience to this order and following the im- 
pulse of Ins own generous and grateful heart, 
discharged the duty with great dignity, but 
with such warmth of coloring and strength 
of expression, as entirely confounded the 
young hero. He rose to express his acknow- 
ledgments for the honor, but such was his 
trepidation and confusion, that he could not 
give distinct utterance to a single syllable. 
He blushed, stammered and trembled for a 
second, when the speaker relieved him by a 
stroke of address, that would have done honor 
to Louis XI V. in his proudest and happiest 
moment, ' Sit down, Mr. Washington, your 
modesty equals your valor, and that surpasses 
the power of any language that I possess.' "* 
Washington retired to Mount Vernon, con- 
tinuing however to be a member of the house 
of burgesses for many years. 

[1763.] There occurred in Virginia a re- 
markable suit at law, known as "the Parson's 
cause," and in it the genius of Patrick Henry 
first shone forth. Tin emoluments of the 
clergy of the established church in Virginia 
for a long time had consisted of 16,000 
pounds of tobacco, contributed In' each par- 
ish. In 1755, the tobacco crop failing, in 
consequence of a drought ami the exigen- 
cies of the colony being greatly augmented 
by the French war, the assembly passed an 
act to endure for ten months, authorizing all 
debts due in tobacco to he paid either in kind 
or in money, at the rate of sixteen shillings 
and eighl pence for every hundred pounds of 
tobacco, t The law was universal in it., ap- 

* W'nt's Life of Patrick Henry. 

t Tins was equivalent to two pence per pound, ami 
hence the act was styled by the clergy "the Two Penny 



plication, — embracing private debts, public 
county and parish levies and fees of all civil 
officers. Its effect upon the clergy was to 
reduce their salary to a moderate amount in 
money — far less than the sixteen thousand 
pounds of tobacco, which they were entitled 
to, were then worth, yet still as much as they 
had usually received. The act did not con- 
tain the usual clause by which acts were sus 
pended until they should receive the royal 
assent, since it might require the entire ten 
months, the term of its operation, to learn the 
determination of the crown. No resistance 
was offered by the clergy to this act. How- 
ever in this year the greater number of them 
petitioned the house of burgesses to grant 
them a more liberal provision for their main- 
tenance. Their petition set forth — " That 
the salary appointed by law for the clergy, is 
so scanty, that it is with difficulty they sup- 
port themselves and families, and can by no 
means make any provision for their widows 
and children, who are generally left to the 
charity of their friends; that the small en- 
couragement given to clergymen, is a reason 
why i-o lew come into this colony from the 
two universities ; and that so many who are 
a disgrace to the ministry find opportunities 
to fill the parishes; that the raising the salary 
would prove of great service to the colony, 
as a decent subsistence would be a great en- 
couragement to the youth to take orders; for 
want of which, few gentlemen have hitherto 
thought it worth their while to bring up their 
children in the study of divinity; that they 

Act." As the price of tobacco now rose to six pence per 
pound, the redtu lion amounted to sixty-six am! two-thirds 
per cent. At two pence, the salary o! the clergy was about 
£133; at six pence, about £400. Yet the art must have 
operated in reliel ol die indebted clergy, equally with other 
debtors. 

The preceding part of tins note was written some years 
ago. While preparing the MS. ol this sheel In,- the | n ss, 
I have received a copy of Col. Richard Bland's " Letter to 
Lhi ' ill rgy of Virginia." Foi the use "i this rare pamph- 
let, 1 am indebted to Dr. Thomas 1' Atkinson, a <]' sci nd- 
ant of the author of it. It is dated March 20, 17(10, at.Jor- 
dans, in Prince George, of which county ('ol. Bland v\a.s 
then a Burgess. The following is extracted from p. 17 oi 
the Letter to Hi" Clergy ;—" They [the Legislature] did 
not attempt or even entertain a though! ol abrid 
maintenance of iht clergy; but allowed them a price for their 
salaries equal to Crop Tobacco at 18 shillings the hundred, 
winch made their salaries thai \ a sum, I will 

pronounce, largei than the clergj in general had k ceived in 
any one year from the first regulation of their salaries by a 
Law, and which (one would be willing to think) they above 
all men oughl to have hen contented with in a year of 
such general distress." 



1755-63.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



I-2H 



generally spent many years of their lives at 
great expense in study, when their patrimony 
is pretty well exhausted ; and when in Holy 
Orders, they cannot follow any secular em- 
ployment for the advancement of their for- 
tunes and may on that account expect a 
more liberal provision." * 

Another relief act (similar to that of 1755) 
fixing the value of tobacco at eighteen shil- 
lings a hundred, was passed, [1758,] + upon 
a mere anticipation of another scanty crop.} 
It did however fall short and the price rose 
extremely high. A warm controversy now 
ensued between the planters and the clergy. 
Rev. John Canim, Rector of York Hampton 
Parish, assailed the " Two-Penny Act" in a 
pamphlet of that title, which was replied to 
severally by Col. Richard Bland and Col. 
Landon Carter. An acrimonious contro- 
versy took place in the Virginia Gazette. 
The cause of the clergy became at length 
so unpopular that a printer could not be 
found in Virginia willing to publish Camm's 
rejoinder to Bland and Carter, styled "The 
Colonels dismounted," and he was obli- 
ged to resort to Maryland for that purpose. 
The Colonels retorted and this angry dis- 
pute threw the colony into great excitement. 
At last the clergy appealed to the king in 
council. 

By an act of assembly, passed in 1662, a 
salary of £80 was settled upon every minis- 
ter, "to be paid in the valuable commodities 
of the country, if in tobacco, at 1'2 shillings 
the hundred, if in com, at ten shillings the 
barrel." [1696.] The salary of the clergy 
was fixed at 16,00Qlbs. of tobacco, worth at 
that lime about JUSO. This continued to be 
the amount of their stipends, until 1731, 
when the value of tobacco being raised, they 
increased to about £100, or £120. This was 
exclusive of their glebes and other perqui- 



* Col. Bland's Letter to the Clergy, p. 6. 

t Col. Bland in Letter to the Clergy, dates this act in 
1757. li v\as passed m 1758, See 7 Hening, p 240. 

X Hening, vol. 0, p. 568, vol. 7, p. 240. Hawks, p. 1 18, 
say3, "Oh the contested point, [to wit, the vali lity of the 
act,] il will probably at this day he conceded, thai the ( ller- 
gy were in the right." Bnrk, vol. :;, p. 302, attributes the 
rise in the price ol tobacco, "to the .wis of an extra 
speculator of the name ol Dickenson." No authority is 
referred i i and the acl I inn elvi s expn ssl\ attribute the 
scarcit5 in 1755, to " drought," in 1757, to " unseasonable- 
ness of the weather." See also Everett's Life ol Henry, 
in Sparks' American Biography, (2nd scries,-) vol. I, pp. 
2 10-234. 



sites. In Virginia, besides the salaries of the 
clergy, the people had to bear parochial, 
county and public levies, and fees of clerks, 
sheriffs, surveyors and other officers, all which 
were payable in tobacco. The consequence 
of this state of things, was, that a failure in 
that crop involved the people in general dis- 
tress. Were they to be exposed to cruel im- 
positions and exactions, to have their estates 
seized and sacrificed, " for not complying 
with laws which Providence had made it im- 
possible to comply with? Common sense, as 
well as common humanity, will tell you that 
they are not and that it is impassible any in- 
struction to a governor can be construed so 
contrary to the first principles of jus I ice and 
equity, as to prevent his assent to a law, for 
relieving a colony, in a case of such general 
distress and calamity." * The Bishop of Lon- 
don in his letter to the lords of trade and 
plantations, denounced the act of 1758 as 
binding the king's hands and manifestly len- 
ding to draw the people of the plantations 
from their allegiance to the king. But it was 
replied, if the Virginians could ever enter- 
tain the thought of withdrawing from their 
dependency on England, nothing could be 
more apt. to bring about such a result, than 
the denying them the right to protect them- 
selves from distress and calamity, in so trying 
an emergency. In the year when this relief 
act was passed, many thousands of the colo- 
nists did not make one pound of tobacco, 
and if all the tobacco raised in the colo- 
ny had been divided among the tithables, 
" they would not have had 200 lbs. a Man, 
to pay the Taxes for the support of the 
War, their Levies and other public iOues, 
and to provide a scanty subsistence for 
themselves and Families;"! and "the Gen- 
era/-Assembly were obliged to issue Mo- 
ney from the publick Funds, to keep the 
people from Starving." The Act had been 
denounced as treasonable; but were the Le- 
gislature to sit with folded arms, silent and 
inactive amid the miseries of the people ? 
'• This would have be* n Treason indeed — 
Treason against the State — against the clem- 
ency of the Royal Majesty :" Many land- 
lords and civil officers were members of the 
Assembly in 1758, their rents and fees were 



Bland's Letter to tin Ch ;v, up. 1 t 16. 

11)1(1 p. 17. 



I" 



130 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXI. 



payable in tobacco, nevertheless they cheer- 
fully promoted the enactment of an Act by 
which they were to suffer great losses. The 
royal prerogative in the hands of a benign 
sovereign, could only be exerted for " the 
Good of his People and not for their De- 
struction." "When, therefore, the Governor 
and Council, (to whom this Power is in Part 
delegated,) find from the Uncertainty and 
Variableness of human Affairs, that any Ac- 
cident happens which general Instructions 
can by no Means provide for ; or which by a 
rigid construction of them, would destroy a 
People so far distant from the Royal Pres- 
ence, before they can apply to the Throne 
for Relief, it is their Duty as good Magis- 
trates, to exercise this power as the Exigen- 
cy of the State requires ; and though they 
should deviate from the Strict Letter of an 
Instruction, or perhaps m a Small Degree 
from the fixed Rule of the Constitution, yet 
such a Deviation cannot possibly be Treason 
when it is intended to produce the most salu- 
tary End the Preservation of the People." The 
safety of the People is the supreme law. * An 
English clergyman named Burnaby passed 
some months in Virginia about the time of 
this dispute, travelling through the colony 
and conversing freely with all ranks of peo- 
ple. He expresses himself on the subject in 
the following manner: "Upon the whole, 
however, as on the one hand I disapprove oi 
the proceedings of the assembly in this affair : 
so on the other I cannot approve of the steps 
which were taken by the clergy ; that vio- 
lence of temper, that disrespectful behavior 
towards the governor, that unworthy treat- 
ment of their commissary, and to mention 
nothing else, that confusion of proceeding 
in the convention of which some, though 
not the majority, as has been invidiously rep- 
resented, were guilty; — these things were 
surely unbecoming the -acred character they 
are invested with and the moderation of those 
persons who ought in all things to imitate 
the conduct of their divine master. If in- 
stead of Hying out in invectives against the 
legislature; of accusing the governor of hav- 
ing given up the cause of religion by pass- 
ing the bill ; when in fact had lie rejected 
it, he would never have been able to have 
got any supplies during the course of the 

» Ibid, p 13. 



war, though ever so much wanted ; if in- 
stead of charging the commissary, [Robin- 
son,] with want of zeal, for having exhorted 
them to moderate measures, they had fol- 
lowed the prudent counsels of that excellent 
man and had acted with more temper and 
moderation, they might, I am persuaded, in a 
very short time, have obtained any redress 
they could reasonably have desired. The 
people in general were extremely well af- 
fected towards the clergy." 

George III., in Council, denounced " the 
Two Penny act" as an usurpation and de- 
clared it null and void. The clergy now in- 
stituted suits in the several county courts, to 
retrieve the losses which they had suffered 
by the rescinded act. The county of Hano- 
ver was selected as the scene of the first 
trial ; for as all the causes stood on the same 
foot, a decision of one would determine all. 
This was brought by Rev. James Maury. 
[November, 1763,] the Court decided the 
points of law in favor of the clergyman, thus 
declaring that the Act in question had been 
annulled by the crown. Maury's success 
before a jury seemed now inevitable, since 
there could be no dispute relative to the facts 
of the case. Mr. John Lewis, who had de- 
fended the popular side, now retired from 
the cause as essentially settled and as being 
now merely a question of damages. The 
defendants, however, as a dernier resort, em- 
ployed Patrick Henry, Jr., to appear as their 
advocate at the next hearing. It was the 
first case in which he was employed. The 
suit came to trial again, [December, 1st, 
1763,] before the county court. On an oc- 
casion of such universal interest, an extraor- 
dinary concourse of people assembled at 
Hanover Court House * — not only from that 
but also from the neighboring counties. The 
Court House and yard were thronged ; twen- 
ty clergymen sate on the bench to witness a 
contest in which they had so much at stake. 
The presiding magistrate was no Other than 
the father of young Henry. The case stood 
upon a writ of enquiry of damages and was 
opened for the plaintiff, by Peter Lyons. 
When Patrick Henry rose to reply, his com- 
mencement was awkward, unpromising, em- 
barrassed. In a few moments, however, he 
began to warm with his subject, and catch- 



Still standing, but 



;w bat alteicd. 



1755-63. 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



131 



ing inspiration from the surrounding scene, 
his altitude grew more erect, his gesture 
holder, his eye kindled with the radiance of 
genius, his voice ceased to falter and the 
witchery of its music " made the blood run 
cold and the hair stand on end." The peo- 
ple, as if charmed by some enchanter's in- 
fluence, hung with rapture upon his accents; 
in every part of the house, on every bench, 
in every window, they stooped forward from 
their stands in breathless silence, astonished, 
delighted, rivetted upon the youthful orator, 
whose eloquence blended the beauty of the 
rainbow with the terror of the cataract. 
When he declared that " a king who annull- 
ed and disallowed laws of a salutary nature 
instead of being the father degenerated into 
the tyrant of his people," the opposing ad- 
vocate cried out, " He has spoken treason !" 
But the court was not of that opinion and 
Henry proceeded in his bold philippic. Amid 
the storm of his invective, the disappointed 
and indignant clergy, leeling that the day 
was lost, retired from the bench. Young 
Henry's father sate bedewed with tears of 
fond surprise. The jury quickly returned a 
verdict of one penny damages; the court 
carried away by the torrent of popular en- 
thusiasm, refused to grant a new trial ; ac- 
clamations resounded within the Court House 
and without, and in spite of eries of " or- 
der." Patrick Henry was unwillingly lifted 
up :\\id borne in triumph on the shoulders of 
his cxciicd admirers. He was now the man 
of the people. * In after years, aged men, 
who had been present at the trial of "the 
Parsons' cause," reckoned it the highest 
compliment that they could bestow upon a 
speaker, to say of him, 4i he is almost equal 
to Patrick when he plead against the Par- 
sons." 

The decision of the Parsons' cause was 
rather equitable than legal, rather just than 
strictly constitutional. The Act of 1758, 
though it may well have been held valid at 
firsl as grounded on necessity ami the law 
of nature, yet had been subsequently an- 



* Wirt's Life of Henry. From this work 1 have bor- 
rowed freely in this passage and in others. Notwithstand- 
ing the faults of an hyperbolical and i xuberant style, there 
is a charm in this biography, which stamps ii as one ol 
those works ol genius which "men will not willii 
die." See also Hawks, p. 121. Rev. Mr. Maury prepared 
a sketch of Henry's speech, which is still preserved, and 
will, it is said, be shortly publishi ii 



nulled by the king in Council, and the clergy 
could only be defeated in their claim by a 
sort of revolutionary recurrence to funda- 
mental principles, by an abnegation of the 
regal authority and an exertion of popular 
sovereignty. Henry's speech in the Parsons' 
cause and the decision of it, were indeed 
the commencement of the Revolution in 
Virginia. Hanover was the starting point. 
Patrick Henry, the second of nine chil- 
dren, was born [May 29th, 1736,] at Stud- 
ley, * in Hanover county, Virginia. His pa- 
rents were in moderate, but easy circum- 
stances. The father, John Henry, was a na- 
tive of Aberdeen in Scotland, a cousin of 
David Henry, (brother-in-law of Edward 
Cave and his successor as editor of the Gen- 
tlemen's Magazine,) and nephew, on the 
maternal side, of Dr. William Robertson, the 
historian. John Henry emigrated to Vir- 
ginia sometime before 1730. He enjoyed 
the friendship and patronage of Robert Din- 
widdle, afterwards Governor of Virginia, 
who introduced him to the acquaintance of 
Col John Syme, of Hanover, in whose fami- 
ly he became domesticated, and with whose 
widow t he afterwards intermarried. Her 
maiden name was Sarah Winston and she 
was of an old and respectable family. John 
Henry was Colonel of his regiment, county 
surveyor, and for many years presiding mag- 
istrate. He was a loyal subject and took 
pleasure in drinking the king's health at the 
head of his regiment. He enjoyed the ad- 
vantage of a liberal education; his under- 
standing was plain but solid. A zealous 
member of the established church, he was, 



* The dwelling is not extant. Some laurels have found 
an appropriate place near the site ol it. Antique hedges ol 
box, and an avenue of decrepid trees survive to whisper ol 
the past. Studley is surrounded by woo, Is, so tint Henry 
was actually, 

" 'I'h." forest-born Dem isthenes, 

Whose ihundi r shook the Philip of tin' si as." 

j Col. Byrd, (in Westovei MS , p. I li.) describes her 
as '-a portly handsome dame" " of a lively, cheerful con 
versation, with much less reserve than most of her ci mi 
try women. It becomes her very well ami sets off hi i 

rci le qualities to advantage." "The courteous widow 
invited me to rest myself there that good day and t" o to 
church with her, but I excused mysell l>\ telling her she 
would certainly spoil my devotion. Then she civilly en- 
treated me to make her house my home wh< ■• vi i I visited 
my plantations, [lie had five in that county,] which made 
me bow low and thank her veiv kindly." Cul. tij me left a 
son by her, who had "all 1 he strong features ol his sire not 
- i.. ,i d in the h asi bj any o( her* 



132 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXI. 



however, more familiar with Horace and 
Livy, than with works of piety and devo- 
tion. * 

Soon after his settlement in Virginia, Pat- 
rick, his brother, followed him and became 
after some interval of time, rector of St. 
Paul's church in Hanover, t William Win- 
ston, brother-in-law of John Henry, was sin- 
gularly gifted with the powers of eloquence. 
It may hence be inferred that Patrick Henry 
derived his genius from his mother, f John 



* In a memoir of Rev. James Waddel, (the Blind Preach- 

erol Wirt'.* British Spy,) by his grandson, Rev. Dr. Jas. W. 

Alexander, the following is found: "When he, [Dr. Waddel,] 
came into Virginia, a young man, he visited Mr. Samuel Da- 
vies and heard him preach in Hanover nearwhere Col. Henry 
lived, the father of Patrick Henry, to whom he was intro- 
duced on the Sabbath and with whom he went home. At 
parting Mr. Davies told him he would find that Virginians 
observed not the Sabbath as the Pennsylvanians, and that 
he would have to bear with many things he would wish 
otherwise. Accordingly, as he went home with Col. H., he 
found him much more conversant with Virgil and Horace 
than the Bible." 

j [1733.] Upon the recommendation of the Governor 
and the Commissary, 'he Rev. Patrick Henry became min- 
ister of St. George's Parish in the new county of Spotsyl- 
vania. [April, 1731.] He resigned this charge. Hist, of 
St George's Parish, pp. 17-19. 

+ Mary Howitt has given an account of the village of 
Winston in England and of the old Hall there, now tenant- 
less, called " Winston-oud-ha," an antique biick structure, 
high, with numerous gables and well grouped massive chim- 
neys. Winston church is likewise styled the old church, 
although there is no new one in the village, Inthechurch- 
\ i ril are sculptured figures of Sir John Winston and his 
Lady Penelope, in full court dress of Queen Elizabeth's 
day, in kneeling attitude, with upturned eyes and holding 
prayer-hooks in their hands. The tomb was erected by 
their son, Sir Christopher Winston, the last of that branch 
of the family. His only daughter married Oliver Charte- 
rs Esq., and the estate slill continues in a branch of that 
family. Penelope was a family name among the Winston's 
oJ Virginia. Four Winstons, three brothers and a cousin, 
came over from Yorkshire, England, and settled in Hano- 
ver. Isaac, one of the four, (or son ol one of them,) had 
children. 1. William, father of Judge Edmund Winston 
:i. Sarah, mother of Patrick Henry, Jr., the orator. 3. 
Geddes, (pronounced Gaddice.) '1. Mary, who married 

John Coles. 5. A daughter who married Coir. She 

was a dniolhei to Airs. Madison, (the President's lady,) 

Dolly Payne thai was. 

Of these live children, William the eldest, (called Lan- 

galoo William,) married Alice Taylor of Caroline. He 

:real hunter ; hail a quarter in Bedford or Albemarle, 

where he spent sometimes half the year in hunting deer. 

He was fond ol the Indians, dressed in their costume, and 

was a favorite with them. According to tradition, howev- 
er, an amour with the daughter of an Indian chief and who 
was betrothed to anothei chief, involved him in difficulties 
with the savages. They besieged him in a log fort for a 

week, during which he defended himself with the aid ol 
three negroes armed with rifles. Al length the favorite 
squaw interposing between the belligerents like the Sabine 



Henry, in a few years after the birth of his 
son Patrick, removed from Studley to Mount 
Brilliant, now the Retreat, (in the same coun- 
ty,) and it was here that the future orator 
was principally educated. The father had 
opened a grammar-school in his own house 
and Patrick after learning the first rudiments 
at an " old field school" in the neighbor- 
hood, at ten years of age commenced his 
studies under his father, with whom he ac- 
quired an English education with some know- 
ledge of the mathematics and of Latin. His 
application to study does not appear to have 
been close. With a taste by no means un- 
common in his country and for which it is 
said his mother's family — the Winstons — 
were especially distinguished, he was fond 
of hunting and angling. When engaged in 
the latter amusement, he would lie lazily 
stretched " under the shade of some tree 
that overhung the sequestered stream, watch- 
ing for hours the motionless cork of his fish- 
insr line.'' He loved solitude and in hunt- 



women ol old, restored peace. Langaloo William Win- 
ston was distinguished as a great Indian fighter. The fol- 
lowing notice of him is taken from Wirt's Life of Patrick 
Henry, p. 12 : — " Mrs. Henry, the widow of Col. Syme, as 
we have seen and the mother of Patrick Henry, was n 
native of Hanover county and of the family of Winstons. 
She possessed in an eminent degree the mild and benevo- 
lent disposition, the undeviating probity, the correct un- 
derstanding and easy elocution, by which that ancient 
family has long been distinguished. Her brother William, 
the lather of the present Judge Winston, is said to have 
been highly endowed with that peculiar cast of eloquence 
for which Mr. Henry became afterwards so justly celebra- 
ted. Of this gentleman I have an anecdote from a corres- 
pondent, (Mr. Pope,) which I shall give in his own words : 
'• I have often heard my father, who was intimately ac- 
quainted with tins William Winston, say that he was the 
greatest orator whom he ever heard, Patrick Henry except- 
ed ; that during tin' last French and Indian war and soon 
after Braddoi k's defeat, win n the militia were matched to 
the frontiers ol Virginia against the enenvy, tins William 
Winston was the lieutenant of a company, that the men, 
w ho were indifferently clothed, without tents, and exposed 
to the rigor and inclemency ol the weather, discovered 
great aversion to the service and were anxious and even 
clamorous to return to then- families — when William Win- 
ston mounting a stump, (the common rostrum you know of 
the field orator of Virginia.) addressed them with such 
s ol invective and declaimed with such force of 
eloquenci liberty and patriotism, that when he conclu- 
ded, the general cry was, " Let us in arch on ; lead US against 
the enemy'" and they were now willing, nay anxious to 
encounter ali those difficulties ami dangi is which but a few 
moments before had almost produced a mutiny." The 
Children of this Langaloo William Winston were, 1, Eliza- 
beth, who man led Peter Fontaine; 2, Fanny, who married 
Dr. Walker; 3, Edmund, tin J idge, who married first Sa- 
rah, daughter of isaac Winston — second, the widow of 
Patrick Henry, Jr., the orator, (Dolly Dandridgethat was ) 



1755-63.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



133 



ing chose not to accompany the noisy set 
that drove the deer, but preferred to occupy 
the silent "stand," where for hours he might 
muse alone and indulge the " pleasing soli- 
tariness"' of thought. 

[1750.] When fourteen years old he ac- 
companied his mother in a carriage to hear 
Samuel Davies preach. His eloquence made 
a deep impression on young Henry, and 
throughout his litetime he always held him 
the greatest orator he had ever heard. 

At the age of fifteen he was placed in a 
store to learn the mercantile business and 
after a year so passed, the father set up Wil- 
liam, an elder brother, and Patrick in trade. 
Patrick in person was rather coarse, in man- 
ners awkward, in dress slovenly, in conver- 
sation plain, but good-humored and agreea- 
ble ; his aversion to study was invincible and 
his faculties were impeded by indolence, t 
The mercantile adventure, after the experi- 
ment of a year, proving a failure, William, 
who had even less energy than Patrick, re- 
tired from the concern and the chief man- 
agement was devolved upon the younger 
brother. Patrick, disgusted with an unprom- 
ising business, listened impatiently to the 
hunter's horn and the cry of hounds echo- 
ing in the neighboring woods. Excluded 
from these congenial sports, he sought a re- 



* Howe's Hist. Coll. of Va., p 

"It has been supposed, that he [Davies] first kindled the 
fiie and afforded the model of Henry's elocution, as he 
lived from his 11th to Ins 22d year in the neighborhood 
where the patriotic sermons of Mr. Davies were delivered, 
which produci d effects as those ascribed to the 

orations of Demosthenes." Ibid, p. 294. 

The following is taken from the memoir of the Rev. Dr. 
.lames Waddel, by his grandson, the Rev. Dr. James W. 
Alexander: "A gentleman intimately connected with Pat- 
rick Henry, informed me that tins great man was accus- 
tomed to speak in terms of unbounded admiration of Dr. 
Waddel's powers, pronouncing Davies and Waddel to be 
the greatest orators he hail ever heard. Ami i! may !»• ob- 
, that hi. ill Henry ami Waddel were in early life 
placed where they could catch the inspiration of Samuel 
Davies. 1 am indebti I to a gentli man "I \ irginia,as well 
qualified to authenticate such a fact as any man living, 
tli at when Hi nry was ^ lad, in- used to drive his mothei in 
a gij: to tin- places in Hanover where .Mr. Da 
an. I that, in alter iil 

spoke of the eloquence which he then heard and felt, as 
■ led with Ins own wonderful success. In no 
one ol I ■ three, how ever, « as it I ' v hich i> 

; by masters of elocution, or practised bi fore the mir- 

rors of colleges." 

+ Grahame's Hist of the I . S. I am repeatedly indebt- 
ed to tins learned, candid aid elegant historian. Wirt's 
Life of Henry. Lifeof Henry, by Alexander 11 
in Sparks' Ainer. Biog., (2nd series.) vol ]. pp. 21 



source in music and learned to play not un- 
skilfully on the tlnir and the violin. He 
found another source of entertainment in 
the conversation of the country people who 
met at his store, particularly on Saturday. 
lie excited debates among them and watched 
the workings of their minds, and by stories, 
real or lid it ions, si tidied how to move the 
passions at his will. At the end of two or 
three years a too generous indulgence to his 
customers, and neglect of business, together 
perhaps with the insuperable difficulties of the 
enterprise itself, forced him to abandon his 
-tore, almost in a state of insolvency. 

In the meantime, however, at the age of 
eighteen he had married a Miss Shelton, the 
daughter of a poor but honest tanner in the 
neighborhood. Young Henry now by thejoinl 
assistance of his father and his father-in-law, 
furnished with a small farm and one or two 
slaves, undertook to support himself by ag- 
riculture. Yet although he tilled the ground 
with his own hands, whether owing to his 
negligent and unsystematic habits, or to the 
sterility of the soil, after an experiment of 
two years he failed in this enterprise as ut- 
terly as in the former. Selling his scanty 
property at a sacrifice for cash, he turned 
again to merchandize. Still displaying the 
same incorrigible indifference to business, 
he now resumed his violin, his flute, his 
books, his curious inspection of human na- 
ture, and occasionally shut up his store to 
indulge in his favorite sports. He now stu- 
died geography and became a proficient in it ; 
he examined the charters and history of the 
colony and pored over the translated annals 
of Greece and Rome. Livy became his fa- 
vorite, and in his early life he read it at least 
once in every year. : His second mercan- 
tile experiment turned out more unfortunate 
than the first and left him a bankrupt. Vet 
these disappointments, aggravated by an 
earl} marriage, did not visibly depress his 
spirit. In the winter of 17b'0, Thomas Jef- 
ferson then in his seventeenth year, on his 
way to the of William and Mary, 

spent the Christmas holydays al the seat of 
Col. Dandridge in Hanover. Patrick Henry, 
jr.. now 24 years of age, being a near neio-h- 



* I incline to suspect that 1ns alleged aversion to honks 
in after lifi has been i et ... 

d ii m compliance « nh the vula .hum 



134 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXII. 



bor, young Jefferson now met with him for 
the first time and observed that his manners 
had something of coarseness in them ; his 
passion was music, dancing and pleasantry. 
In the last he excelled and it attached every 
body to him. He displayed no uncommon 
calibre of intellect or extent of information; 
but his misfortunes were not to be traced in 
his countenance or in his conduct. Self- 
possessed repose is the characteristic of na- 
tive power. Consciousness of superior ge- 
nius and a reliance upon a benignant Provi- 
dence, buoyed him up in the fluctuations of 
an adverse fortune. Young Henry embraced 
the study of the law and after a short course 
of reading, was admitted to the bar in the 
spring of 1760. For three years he remained 
in obscurity. In the " Parsons' Cause" he 
first emerged from the horizon and thence- 
forth became star of the ascendant. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 
1763 — 1774. 

Disputes between the Colonies and the Mother Country; 
The Siamp Act; Virginia opposes it; Henry's Reso- 
lutions; His Eloquence ; Congress meets at New York ; 
Stamp Act repealed ; Speaker Robinson; Fauquier suc- 
ceeded by Blair; Baptists in Virginia; Actio levy duties 
in America resisted , Botetourt Governor; Affairs during 
his Administration ; Succeeded by President Kelson; 
Gieat Fresh in 1771; Dunmore Governor; Resistance 
to duty on Tea ; Proceedings in Virginia ; Congress meets 
at Philadelphia; Dunmore's Indian War; The Battle of 
Point Pleasant ; Logan. 

The successful termination of the war of 
1755 paved the way for American indepen- 
dence. Hitherto from the first settlement of 
the colonies, Great Britain without seeking 
a direct revenue from them, had been satis- 
fied with a monopoly of (heir trade. And 
now when they had grown more capable of 
resisting impositions, the mother country 
rose in her demands. * Thus [1764,] dis- 
putes commenced between Great Britain and 
the colonies, and lasting aboul twelve years, 
ended in a disruption of the empire. This 
result, inevitable in the natural course of 
events, was precipitated by the impolitic 
and arbitrary measures of the British gov- 
ernment. In the general loyalty of the 

- Ramsay's Hist, of the U. S. 



colonies, new commercial restrictions, al- 
though involving a heavy indirect taxa- 
tion, would have been submitted to. But 
the novel scheme of direct taxation — with- 
out their consent — was reprobated as contra- 
ry to their natural and chartered rights and 
a llame of discontent finally overspread the 
whole country. The recent war had inspi- 
red the provincial troops with more confi- 
dence in themselves and had rendered the 
British regulars less formidable in their eyes. 
The success of the allied arms had put an 
end to the dependency of the colonies upon 
the mother country for protection against 
the French. In several of the provinces, 
Germans, Dutch, Swedes and Frenchmen 
were found commingled with the Anglican 
population. Great Britain by long wars ably 
conducted, had acquired glory and an ex- 
tension of empire ; but in the meantime she 
had contracted an enormous debt. The 
British officers entertained with a liberal hos- 
pitality in America, carried back to England 
exaggerated reports of the wealth of the 
colonies. The colonial governors and the 
British ministry had often been thwarted and 
annoyed by the republican and independent 
and sometimes turbulent spirit of the colo- 
nies, and longed to see it curbed. In fine, 
the British administration was in the hands 
of a corrupt and grasping oligarchy, and the 
minister determined to lessen the burdens 
at home by levying a direct tax from the col- 
onies. The loyalty of the Americans had 
never been warmer than at the close of the 
war. They had expended their treasure and 
their blood freely and the recollection of mu- 
tual sufferings and a common glory strength- 
ened their attachment to the mother coun- 
try. These loyal sentiments were destined 
to wither soon. The colonies too had in- 
volved themselves in a heavy debt. Within 
three years, from 1756 to 1759, parliament 
had granted them a large amount of money 
to encourage their efforts ; yet exclusive of 
that amount and of the extraordinary sup- 
lilies appropriated by the colonial assem- 
blies, a very heavy debt still remained un- 
liquidated. When, therefore, parliament, in 
a few years after, undertook to extort money 
by a direct tax, from provinces to which she 
had lately granted incomparably larger sums, 
it was conceived that the object of the min- 
ister was not simply to raise the in.-on- ider- 



1763-74.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



135 



able amount of the tax, but to establish a 
new and absolute system of "taxation with- 
out representation." It was easy to fore- 
see that it might and would be made the in- 
strument of unlimited extortions and would 
extinguish the practical legislative indepen- 
dence of America. 

After war had raged for nearly eight years, 
a general peace was concluded, by which 
France ceded Canada, and Spain the Flori- 
das to Great Britain. These conquests and 
the culminating power and the arrogant pre- 
tensions of that proud island, excited the 
jealousy and the fears of Europe. In Eng- 
land a corrupt and arbitrary administration 
had engendered a formidable opposition at 
home. [1763.] The national debt had ac- 
cumulated to an enormous amount; for which 
an annual interest of twenty-two millions of 
dollars was paid. The minister proposed to 
levy from the colonies part of this sum ; al- 
leging that, as the recent war had been waged 
partly on their account, it was but fair that 
they should contribute a share of the ex- 
pense. And a right was claimed, according 
to the letter of the British Constitution, for 
parliament to tax every portion of the em- 
pire. The absolute right of legislating for 
the colonies had long, if not always, been 
claimed theoretically by England; but she 
had never exerted it in practice, in the es- 
sential article of taxation. The inhabitants 
of the colonies admitted their obligation to 
share the expense of the war, but insisted 
that the necessary revenue could be legiti- 
mately levied only by their own legislatures; 
that taxation and representation were insep- 
arable, and that distant colonies not repre- 
sented in parliament were entitled to tax 
themselves. The justice of parliament would 
prove a feeble barrier against the demands 
of avarice. As in England the privilege of 
granting money was the palladium of the 
people's liberty against the encroachments 
of the crown ; so the same right was the 
safeguard of the colonies against the tyran- 
ny of the imperial government. [March, 
1764.] Parliament passed resolutions decla- 
ratory of an intention to impose a stamp- 
duty in America and avowing the right and 
the expediency of taxing the colonies. This 
was the fountain-head of the revolution. 
These resolutions gave great dissatisfaction 
in America ; but were -popular in England. 



The prospect of lightening their own bur- 
dens at the expense of the colonists, daz- 
zled the English gentry. The resolutions 
met with no actual opposition in the colo- 
nies. [March, 1765.] Grenville, the Eng- 
lish minister, introduced in the house the 
American Stamp-Act, declaring null and 
void instruments of writing in daily use in the 
colonies, unless executed on stamped paper 
or parchment, charged with a duty imposed 
by parliament. The bill, warmly debated in 
the house of commons, met with no opposi- 
tion in the house of lords, and, [March 22,] 
received the royal sanction. The night after 
it passed, Dr. Franklin wrote to Mr. Charles 
Thomson : * " The sun of liberty is set ; — 
you must light up the candles of industry 
and economy." Mr. Thomson answered, 
" I was apprehensive that other lights would 
be the consequence." At first it was taken 
for orranted in England and in America, that 
the stamp-act would be enforced. It was 
not to take effect till November, more than 
seven months after its passage. Virginia led 
the way in opposition. [29th of May, 1765,] 
Patrick Henry brought before the house of 
burgesses, a series of resolutions dec! ting 
that, " the general assembly of this colony, 
together with his majesty or his substitutes, 
have in their representative capacity, the 
only exclusive right and power to lay taxes 
and imposts upon the inhabitants of this col- 
ony." Mr. Henry was a young and new 
member; but finding the men of weight in 
the house averse to opposition, and the 
stamp-act about to take effect and no person 
likely to step forth — alone, unadvised and 
unassisted he wrote these resolutions on a 
blank leaf of an old law-book, t The last 
resolution was carried only by a single vote. 
The debate on it, in the language of Jeffer- 
son, was " most bloody." Peyton Randolph, 
the king's Attorney General, Richard Bland, 
Edmund Pendleton, George Wythe and all 
the old leaders ol" the house were in oppo- 
sition. Mr. Henry was, however, ably sus- 
tained by Mr. George Johnston, burgess of 
I he county of Fairfax. Many threats were 
uttered in the course of this stormy debate 
and much abuse; heaped on Mr. Henry. 
Thomas Jefferson, then a student at W'il- 



* Afterwards Secretary to Congress. 
| A. " i Joke upon Littleton." 



136 



Hi STORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXII- 



liamsburg, standing at the doorofthehou.se, 
overheard the debate. After the Speaker 
Robinson had declared the result of the vote, 
Peyton Randolph left the chamber and as he 
entered the lobby near young Jefferson, ex- 
claimed, " By Crod, I would have given 500 
guineas for a single vote !" Henry bote 
himself on this occasion like Washington in 
the battle of the Monongahela. Yet scarce 
a vestige survives of this display of elo- 
quence. Tradition has preserved one inci- 
dent. While thundering against the stamp- 
act he exclaimed, " Ciesar had his Brutus, 
Charles I. his Cromwell, and George III — 
('Treason,' cried the Speaker; 'treason, 
treason,' resounded from every part of the 
house. Henry rising to a loftier attitude, 
with an unfaltering voice and unwavering 1 
eye, finished the sentence,) — may profit by 
the example ; if this be treason, make the 
most of it." Mr. Henry was now the lead- 
ing man in Virginia. His resolutions gave 
the impulse to the other colonies and the 
revolutionary spirit spread like a prairie-fire 
over the whole country. 

At the instance of the colony of Massa- 
chusetts Bay, a congress met on the second 
Tuesday of October, 1765, at New York. 
Twenty-eight members wore in attendance. 
The assemblies of Virginia, North Carolina 
and Georgia were prevented by their gov- 
ernors from sending deputies. This con- 
gress made a declaration denying the right 
of parliament to tax the colonies, and con- 
curred in petitions to the king and the house 
of commons and a memorial to the house of 
lords. Virginia and the other two colonies 
not represented, forwarded petitions accor- 
dant with those adopted by the Congress. 
Opposition to the stamp-act now blazed forth 
in every quarter. It was disregarded and 
defied. The colonists betook themselves to 
domestic manufactures and foreign luxuries 
were laid aside, fn the meanwhile a change 
had taken place in the British ministry. The 
stamp-act was taken up ill parliament. Dr. 
Franklin was examined at the bar of the 
bouse o!' commons. Lord Camden in the 
house of pens and Mr. Pitt in the commons 
favored a. repeal of the act. After taking 
measures "for securing the dependence of 
America on Great Britain," parliament re- 
pealed the stamp-act, [March, 1766.] 

! May, 1765.] A motion had been brought 



forward in the Virginia assembly for the es- 
tablishment of a loan-office. The object was 
to lend the public money to individuals on 
landed security. The project was strenuously 
opposed by Patrick Henry and it failed. It 
was urged in its favor, that from the unhap- 
py circumstances of the colony, men of for- 
tune had contracted debts, which if exacted 
suddenly, must ruin them ; but with a little 
indulgence might be liquidated. "What, 
sir!'' exclaimed Mr. Henry, "is it proposed 
then to reclaim the spend-thrift from his dis- 
sipation and extravagance by filling his pock- 
ets with money ?" At the session of 1766, 
Mr. John Robinson, who for many years had 
held the joint offices of Speaker and Trea- 
surer, being now dead, an enormous defalca- 
tion was discovered in his accounts. A mo- 
tion to separate the two offices, supported by 
Mr. Henry, proved successful. Peyton Ran- 
dolph was made Speaker and Robert C. 
Nicholas, Treasurer. The deficit of the late 
treasurer exceeded one hundred thousand 
pounds. Mr. Robinson, amiable, libera! 
and wealthy, had been long at the head of 
the Virginia aristocracy. He had lent large 
sums of the public money to friends involved 
in debt, particularly to members of the as- 
sembly, confiding for its replacement upon 
his own ample property and the securities 
taken on the loans. At length apprehen- 
sive of a discovery of the deficit, he with his 
friends in the assembly, devised the scheme 
of the loan-office. The entire amount of 
the defalcation was however eventually re- 
covered from the estate of Robinson. * 

In 17b'6 was published, at Williamsburg. 
" An Inquiry into the Rights of the British 
Colonies," t from the pen of Richard Bland. 

*"1I<' resided at Mount Pleasant on the Matapony in 
King & Queen county— the house there having been built 
foi him, ii is said, by the father of Lucy Moore of Chel- 
sea in King William, one of Ins wives. A portrait of her 
when quite young is preserved at Chelsea in the room in 
which she was married. His portrait is preserved by his 
iints. He lies buried in the garden at Mount 
Pleasant, without ;i tombstone. 

f 1 am indebted to Dr. Thomas P. Atkinson, of Dan- 
ville, l<n tin' use ol a copy ol this rare and masterly pro- 
duction. Tlir Title page is as follows. "An [nquiry into 
ts ol the l!i ii i -ii I lol i.irs, Intended as an Answer 
to The Regulations lately made concerning the Colonies 
and the Taxes imposed upon them considered. In a letter 
addressed to the Author of that Pamphlet, by Richard 
Bland "I \ ii "u. i a. Dedit omnibus Deus pro virili portions 
sapientiam ul et inaudita invesligare possent et audita 
perpendere, LuCtantius. Williamsburg. Printed by Al- 
exander Purdic & Co. MDCCLXV1." 



1763-74.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



137 



In discussing the question, " whether the 
Colonies ore represented in the British Par- 
liament?" he traces the English Constitu- 
tion to its Saxon origin, when every free- 
holder was a member of the Wittenagemote 
or Parliament. When the custom of repre- 
sentation was introduced, each freeholder 
had a right to vote at the election of* mem- 
bers of parliament. This appears from the 
Statutes, 1st Hen. 5, and 8th Hen. 6, lim- 
iting the elective franchise, depriving many 

. 'ro- 

of the right of voting for members of parlia- 
ment — that is, depriving them of the right 
of representation in parliament. How could 
they have been thus deprived, if, as was con- 
tended, all the people of England were still 
virtually represented ? Bland acknowledged 
that a very large portion of the people of 
Great Britain were not entitled to represen- 
tation in parliament and were nevertheless 
bound to obey iliv laws of the realm, "but then 
the obligation of these Laws, does not arise 
from their being virtually represented in par- 
liament." The American colonies, except- 
ing the few planted in the 18th century, were' 
founded by private adventurers, who estab- 
lished themselves without any expense to 
the nation, in this uncultivated and almost 
uninhabited country, so that they stand on a 
different foot from the Roman or any ancient 
colonics. Men have a natural right to quit 
their own country and retire' to another and 
set up there an independent government 
for themselves. But if they have this so ab- 
solute a right, they must have the lesser right 
to remove, by compact with their sovereign, 
to a new country and to form a civil estab- 
lishment upon the terms of the compact. 
The first Virginia charier was granted to 
Raleigh, by queen Elizabeth, in 1584. By 
this charter, the new country was granted to 
him, his heirs and assigns, in perpetual sov- 
ereignty, as billy as the crown could grant, 
with full power of legislation and the estab- 
lishment of a civil government. The coun- 
try was to lie united to the realm of England 
in perfect league ami amity, was to be within 
the allegiance of the crown and to be held 
by homage and the payment of one fifth oi 
all gold am! silver ore. in the 31st year oi 
Elizabeth's r< ign, Sir Walter Raleigh a. - 
signed the plantation to a company, who af- 
terwards associating other adventurers with 
them procured new charters from Jam* :.. 



in whom Raleigh's rights became vested upon 
his attainder. The charter of James was of 
the same character with that of Elizabeth, 
with an express clause of exemption forever 
from all taxation or impost upon their im- 
ports or exports. Under this charter and 
the auspices of the, company, the colony ol 
Virginia was settled, after struggling through 
immense difficulties, and without receiving 
the least assistance from the British govern- 
ment. In 1621 a civil government was es- 
tablished, consisting of a governor, coun- 
cil and House of Burgesses elected by the 
freeholders. [1624.] James I. dissolved the 
company and assumed the control of the 
colony, which upon his demise devolved 
upon Charles I., who, [1625,] by proclama- 
tion, asserted his royal claim of authority 
over it. To quiet the dissatisfaction of the 
colonists, [1634,] the Privy Council commu- 
nicated the king's assurance, that " all their 
Estates and Trade, Freedom and Privileges 
should be enjoyed by them in as extensive a 
manner as they enjoyed them before the re- 
calling of the company's patent." And 
(diaries I., [1644,] under the royal signet, 
assured the Virginians that they should al- 
ways be immediately dependent upon the 
crown. After the king's death Virginia dis- 
played her loyalty by resisting the parlia- 
mentary forces sent out to reduce the colo- 
ny ami by exacting the most honorable terms 
of surrender. Here the author of the "In- 
quiry" falls into the common error, that 
Charles II. was proclaimed in Virginia some 
time before he was restored to the throne in 
England. 

Thus, proceeds this pamphlet, Virginia 
was as to her internal affairs, a distinct inde- 
pendent State, but united with the parent 
State by the closest league and amity and 
under the same allegiance. II' the crown 
had indeed no prerogative to form such a 
compact wiih a colony, then the royal en- 
gagements in the Charter, wherein " the 
Freedom ami other benefits of the British 
Constitution" were? secured to them, could 
mil be made good. Aud a people who are 

liable to taxation without representation, 
cannot be held to enjoy " the Freedom and 
benefits of the British Constitution." Even 
in the arbitrary reign of Charles II., when ii 
was thought necessar) to establish a perma- 
nent revenue for the support of the govern- 



18 



138 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXII. 



ment in Virginia, the king did not apply to 
the English parliament, but to the General 
Assembly of Virginia, and sent over an act 
under the great seal, by which it was enacted 
" By the king's most Excellent Majesty, by 
and with the consent of the General Assem- 
bly," &c. After the Restoration indeed the 
colonies lost the freedom of trade that they 
had before enjoyed. The Navigation Act, of 
25th Charles II., not only circumscribed ihe 
trade of the colonies with foreign nations 
within very narrow limits, but imposed du- 
ties on goods manufactured in the colonies 
and exported from one to another. The right 
to impose these duties was disputed by Vir- 
ginia, and her Agents, [April, 1676,] procur- 
ed a declaration from Charles II. under his 
privy seal, that " Taxes ought not to be laid 
upon the Inhabitants and Proprietors of the 
Colony, but by the common consent of the 
General Assembly, except such Impositions 
as the parliament should lay on the com- 
modities imported into England from the 
colony." But if no protest had been made 
against the monopolizing injustice of the 
Navigation Act, that forbearance could in no 
way justify an additional act of injustice. 
If the people of the Colonies had in pa- 
tience endured the oppressions of the Eng- 
lish commercial restrictions, could that en- 
durance afford any ground for new oppres- 
sions in the shape of direct taxes? \'{ the 
people of England and of the colonies stood, 
as was contended, on the same foot, being 
both equally and alike subjects of the Brit- 
ish Government, why was the trade of the 
colonies subject to restrictions not imposed 
on the mother country? If parliament had 
a right to lay taxes of every kind on the col- 
onies, the commerce of the colonies ou<xht 
to be as free as that of England, " otherwise 
it will be loading them with Burthens at the 
same time that they are deprived of strength 
to sustain them; it will be forcing them to 
make Bricks without Straw." When colo- 
nies are deprived of their natural rights, re- 
sistance is at once justifiable; but when de- 
prived of their civil rights, when great op- 
pressions are imposed upon them, their rem- 
edy is, " to lay their complaints at the Fool 
of the Throne and to suffer patiently rather 
than disturb the public!-. Peace, which noth- 
ing but a Denial of Justice can excuse them 
in breaking." But a colony " treated with 



Injury and Violence, is become an Alien. 
They were not sent out to be slaves, but to 
be the equals of those that remain behind." 
It was a great error in the supporters of 
the British Ministry, to count upon the sec- 
tional jealousies and clashing interests of the 
colonies. Their real interests were the same, 
and they would not allow minor differences 
to divide them, when the closest union was 
become necessary to maintain in a constitu- 
tional way their dearest rights. How was 
England to prevent this union ? Was it by 
quartering armed soldiers in their families ? 
by depriving the colonists of legal trials in 
the courts of common law ? or by harassing 
them by tax-gatherers and prerogative judges 
and inquisitorial courts ? A petty people 
united in the cause of Liberty is capable of 
glorious actions — such as adorn the annals 
of Switzerland and Holland. The revenue 
accruing to England from the trade of the 
colonies far exceeded the expense of their 
protection. 

Francis Fauquier, Lieutenant Governor, 
died, [1767,] at the age of 65 years, ten of 
which he had passed in Virginia. He was gen- 
erous and elegant, an accomplished scholar 
and a man of great abilities. He was, how- 
ever, excessively addicted to gaming and by 
his example extended a disastrous rage for 
play in the colony. His death devolved the 
duties of government upon John Blair, presi- 
dent of the council. 

[1714.] Some English emigrant Baptists 
settled in the South East part of Virginia. 
Another party from Maryland settled, [1743. ] 
in the North West. But the most impor- 
tant accession came from New England, 
about the period of " the New Light Stir." 
Those who had left the established church 
wen- called Separates; the rest, Regulars. 
Their preachers, not unfrequently illiterate 
men, were characterised by an impassioned 
manner, vehement gesticulation, and a sin- 
gular tone of voice. The hearers often gave 
way to tears, trembling, screams and accla- 
mations. The number of converts increased 
rapidly in some counties. The preachers 
were frequently imprisoned mid whipped by 
magistrates and mobs. Persecution, how- 
ever, only .stimulated their zeal and re- 
doubled their influence. The incarcerated 
preachers addressed crowds congregated be- 
fore the wiudowsof the jails. [1768.] John 



1763-74. 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



139 



Blair, deputy governor, wrote the following 
letter, addressed to the king's attorney in 
the comity of Spotsylvania: 

" Sir, 

I lately received a letter signed by a good 
number of worthy gentlemen, who are not 
here, complaining of the Baptists ; the par- 
ticulars of their misbehavior are not told, any 
further than their running into private hou- 
ses and making dissensions. Mr. Craig and 
Mr. Benjamin Waller are now with me and 
deny the charge; they tell me they are wil- 
ling to take the oaths, as others have: I 
told them I had consulted the attorney gen- 
eral, who is of opinion that the general court 
only have a right to grant licenses and there- 
fore I referred them to the court ; but on 
their application to the attorney general, they 
brought me his letter advising me to write to 
you that their petition was a matter of right 
and that you may not molest these consci- 
entious people, so long as they behave them- 
selves in a manner becoming pious chris- 
tians and in obedience to the laws, till the 
court, when they intend to apply for license 
and when the gentlemen who complain may 
make their objections and be heard. The 
act of toleration, (it being found by experi- 
ence, that persecuting dissenters increases 
their numbers) has given them a right to 
apply in a proper manner, for licensed hou- 
ses for the worship of God according to 
their consciences and I persuade myself the 
gentlemen will quietly overlook their n it- 
ings till the court. I am told they adminis- 
ter the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper near 
the manner we do and differ in nothing from 
our church, but in that of baptism and their 
renewing the ancient discipline, by which 
they have reformed some sinners and brought 
them to be truly penitent; nay if a man of 
theirs is idle and neglects to labour and pro- 
vide for his family as he ought, he incurs 
their censure-, which have had good effects. 
if this lie their behavior, it were to be wished 
we had some of it among us ; hut at least I 
hope ;i.ll may remain quiet till the court." 
This letter was dated at Williamsburg, Jul} 
16th, 176S. 

While many of the Baptist preachers wen- 
men of exemplary character, vet !>\ 
cility of admission into their pulpits, impos- 
tors not (infrequently brought scandal upon 
the name of religion. Schisms, too, repeat- 



edly interrupted the harmony of the Baptist 
associations. Nevertheless, by the striking 
earnestness and the pious example of many 
of them, the Baptists gained ground rapidly 
in Virginia. In their efforts to avail them- 
selves of the toleration act, they found Pat- 
rick Henry ready to step forward in their be- 
half and he remained through life their un- 
wavering friend. They yet cherish his mem- 
ory with fond gratitude. The growth of dis- 
sent in Virginia was accelerated by the ex- 
tremely defective character of the established 
clergy of that day. The Baptists having suf- 
fered much persecution under the establish- 
ment were of all others the most inimical to 
it and afterwards the most active in its sub- 
version. 

The news of the repeal of the Stamp 
Act was joyfully welcomed in America. It 
had averted the horrors of a civil war. But 
the joy of the colonists was premature; for 
simultaneously with the repeal, parliament 
had declared that "it had and of right ought 
to have power to bind the colonies in all 
cases whatsoever." [1767.] Charles Towns- 
bend, afterwards Chancellor of the Exche- 
quer, brought into parliament a lull to levy 
duties in the colonies on glass, paper, paint- 
ers' colors and tea. The bill became a law. 
The duties were external and did not exceed 
in amount twenty thousand pounds: but tin; 
colonic- suspected the mildness of the mea- 
sure to be only a lure to inveigle them into 
the ne!. The uevt act was to take effect on 
the 20th of Novewber, 1767. Resistance 
smothered for a time by the repeal of the 
stamp-act now burst forth afresh. Associa- 
tions were everywhere organized to defeat 
the odious duties ; altercations between the 
people and the king's officers grew frequent; 
the passions of the conflicting parties were 
exasperated. Two British regiments and 
some armed vessels arrived at Boston. 
. In Virginia the assembly encountering no 
opposition from the mild ■'.u<\ patriotic Blair, 
remonstrated loudly against the new oppres- 
sions. Opposition to the arbitrary measures 
of Britain broke forth in that kingdom and in 
London the furj of civil discord shook the 
pillars of the government. Meanwhile Lord 
Botetourt, t just emerging from a corrupt 

* Semple's Hist. of Va. Baptists, pp. 1,16,24. Hawks, 
p. 120. 

J Norboni B< rklcy, Baron ul Boti 10 



140 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXII. 



and abortive intrigue, arrived in Virginia 
Governor-in-chief. [May 11th, 1769,] the 
assembly was convened. The new govern 
or rode upon that occasion to the capitol in 
a state coach, (a present from George III,) 
drawn by six milk-white horses and the in- 
signia of Vice-royalty were pompously dis- 
played. The pageant intended to dazzle 
served only to offend. In February parlia- 
ment had advised his majesty to take ener- 
getic measures against the colonies and he 
had heartily concurred in those views. Upon 
receiving intelligence of this the burgesses 
of Virginia again passed resolutions vindi- 
cating the rights of the colonies. An ad- 
dress was also prepared to be laid before the 
king. Botetourt took alarm and on the fol- 
lowing day, the 18th of May, having convo- 
ked the assembly in the council chamber, 
addressed them as follows: " Mr. Speaker 
and gentlemen of the house of burgesses, I 
have heard of your resolves and augur ill of 
their effects. You have made it my duty to 
dissolve you and you are dissolved according- 
ly." An unpleasant communication could 
not have been more gracefully worded. The 
burgesses immediately repaired in a body to 
a private house and unanimously adopted a 
non-importation agreement, draughted by 
George Mason and presented by George 
Washington. [9th of May, 1769.] The king 
in his speech to parliament re-echoed their 
determination to enforce the laws in every 
part of his dominions. May 13th of the 
same month, the earl of Hillsborough, Sec- 
rotary of State for the colonies, wrote to Bot- 
etourt, assuring him that it was not the in- 
tention of his majesty's ministers to propose 
any further taxes upon America ami that 
they intended to propose a repeal of the du- 
ties on glass, paper and paints, upon the 
ground that those duties had been imposed 
contrary to the true principles of commerce. 
Botetourt convening the assembly, commu- 
nicated these assurances, adding: "it is my 
firm opinion that the plan I have stated to 
you will certainly take place and that it will 
never be departed from and so determined 
am I to abide by h, that I will he content to 
be declared infamous, if I do not |o the last 
hour of my lile, at all times, in all places and 
upon al! occasion.-, exert every power with 
which I am or ever shall he legally invested 

in order to obtain and maintain for the con- 



tinent of America, that satisfaction which I 
have been authorized to promise this day by 
the confidential servant of our gracious sov- 
ereign, who to my certain knowledge rates 
his honor so high, that he would rather part 
with his crown than preserve it by deceit." 
The house answered this address in warm 
terms of loyal gratitude and confidence. The 
estimable Botetourt died, [15th of October, % 
1770,] in his 53rd year and after an admin- 
istration of two years. Promoted to the 
peerage, [1764,] he had succeeded Amherst 
as Governor-in-chief, [176S.J and was the 
first since Lord Culpepper who condescend- 
ed to come to the colony. On his arrival he 
designed to reduce the Virginians to submis- 
sion, either by persuasion or by force ; but 
when he became better acquainted with the 
people, he changed his views and urgently 
entreated the ministry to repeal the o!fen- 
sive taxes. Such a promise was held out to 
him ; but finding himself deceived by a per- 
fidious ministry, he demanded his recall and 
died shortly after of a bilious fever exacerba- 
ted by chagrin and disappointment. He was 
a patron of learning and the arts, giving out 
of his own purse silver and gold medals as 
prizes to the students of William and Mary 
( ollege. The assembly erected a statu." in 
his honor which is .still standing. * His death 
was deeply lamented by the colony. The 
administration devolved upon William Nel- 
son, president of the Council. The assem- 
bly met [18th. of July, 1771.] A project 
was now agitated by some of the Virginia 
clergy to introduce an American episcopate. 
The movement was headed by Rev. John 
Camm. But the assembly having expressed 
its disapprobation of the measure and being 
urged but by few and resisted by some of 
the clergy, it fell to the ground. The scheme 
had been entertained for more than a hun- 
dred years before and it was at one time pro- 
posed to make Dr. Swift bishop of Virginia, 
with power to ordain priests and deacons for 
all the colonies and to parcel them out into 
deaneries, parishes, chapels, &c, and to re- 
commend and present thereto. \ [May, 
177 1, | a great fresh occurred in Virginia. 
The James river in three days rose twenty 

* In from o( Hi.* College of William and Mary. 

1 Swill writing lo Win. Hunter in I70S-9 says: "So 
that nil my hopes now lerrainale in iny bishopiii k ol \ u- 
ijiiiia ' See s .. ili works, iol. 12, p I i'>. 



1763-74.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



141 



feet higher than ever known before. The 
low grounds were everywhere inundated, 
standing crops destroyed, corn, fences, chat- 
tels, merchandise, cattle and houses carried 
off and ships forced from their moorings. 
Many of the inhabitants, master and slave, 
in endeavoring to save property, or to es- 
cape from danger, were drowned. Houses 
were seen drifting down the current, and 
people clinging to them uttering fruitless 
cries for succor. Fertile fields were covered 
with a thick deposite of sand. Islands were 
torn to pieces, bars accumulated, the chan- 
nel diverted and the face of Nature altered. * 
The number of inhabitants drowned was es- 
timated at not less than 150. Lord Dun- 
more t [1772] was transferred from the gov- 
ernment of New York to that of Virginia. 
[1770.] All the duties on articles imported 
into America, had been repealed, save that 
(in tea. The American merchants refused 
to import that herb from England. Conse- 
quently a large stock of it was accumula- 
ted in the warehouses of the East India 
Company. The government now authori- 
zed the company to ship it to America 
free from any export duty. The light import 
duty payable in America, being far less than 
that from which it was exempt in England, 
it was taken for granted that the tea would 
sell more readily in the colony than before 
it had been made a source of revenue. The 
tea-ships arrived in America; measures were 
taken to prevent the landing of the cargoes. 
At Boston the tea was thrown overboard into 
the sea. Not a single chest was sold in Amer- 
ca for the benefit of the East India Company. 
Not long after, the port of Boston was shut, 
by act of Parliament, and a series of vigo- 
rous measures was enforced in order to re- 
duce the colony of Massachusetts Bay to 
submission. [March, 1773.] The Virginia 
;i s-cin 1>1 \- originated the system of commit- 
tees of correspondence between the le- 
gislatures of colonies. This scheme was 



• Soot's (Edinburgh) Mag. for July 1771, and Va. Ga- 
zette for May 1771. Al Turkey Island, (which however is 
not an island,) on the James linn,- ihe ori ;inal scat ol 

the Virginia R lolphs, there is a monument bearing the 

following inscription: "The foundations of this pillar 
was laid in tin calamitous year 1773, when all the great 
rivers of this Country were swept by inundations, never 
befon experienced, which changed the face ol Natun nd 
left traces of theii violence that will remain foi a 

+ John Murraj Earl of Dunmore. 



suggested by Richard Henry Lee. * The 
committee appointed for Virginia were Pey- 
ton Randolph, Robert C. Nicholas, Richard 
Bland, Richard Henry Lee. Benjamin Har- 
rison, Edmund Pendleton, Patrick Henry, 
Dudley Digges, Dabney Carr, Archibald Car) 
and Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Cur though 
young was an advocate second in eloquence 
only to Patrick Henry, and promised to be- 
come no less distinguished as a statesman, but 
died shortly after, greatly regretted. | May, 
1774.] The assembly upon receiving intelli- 
gence of the occlusion of the port of Bos- 
ton, set apart the 1st of June as a fast day. 
On the next day Dunmore dissolved the house. 
The eighty-nine burgesses repaired immedi- 
ately to the Raleigh tavern and in the room 
called "the Apollo," t adopted resolutions 
against the use of tea and other East India 
commodities and recommending the conven- 
ing of another congress. Further news be- 
ing received from Boston some days after, 
twenty-five burgesses, among whom was 
Washington, remained in Williamsburg, — 
held a meeting [May 29th] and issued a cir- 
cular recommending a meeting of deputies 
in a convention to be held at Williamsburg, 
[August 1st.] The convention met accord- 
ingly. A new and more thorough non-im- 
portation association was subscribed. Pey- 
ton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, George 
Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, 
Benjamin Harrison and Edmund Pendleton, 
were appointed delegates to Congress. The 
session lasted only six days. 

* Wirt attributes the suggest ion to Dabney ( an ; others 
to Mr. Jefferson. Lee appears, however, to have first con- 
ceived the plan in Virginia, and Samuel Adams as early in 
Massachusetts. 

f The Raleigh is upwards of 100 years old. There is a 
bust of Sir Walter Raleigh in front ol the house. Our of 
its apartments, ''the Apollo," was the ball-room of the me- 
tropolis. It appears from 'Ik- records of York county, that 
[August '.-'imI, litis,] iho Feoffees ol Williamsburg sold lot 
\i>. 54, on which the Raleigh tavern was afterwards elec- 
ted, io Richard Bland, for 15 shillin s. [1712.] This lot 
was owned by John Sarjanton, who sold it to Daniel Bl< wit 

[1715.] Thomas Jones appears to hive bi 
prietor of it. [1742.] John Blair sold lot on North side of 
Duke ol Gloucester street, for "Subscription Ordinary," 
to John Dixon, David Meade, Patrick Barclay, Alexander 
McKenzie and .lames Murray, for £250. [1749 | McKen- 
zie & Co . sold the " Rah i ;h Tavi m" to John I II iswell 
and George Gilmer lor £700. [1703.] John Robinson & 
Co., executors of Gi orge Gilmer, sold the same to William 
Trebell. [1707.] Trebell sold the Raleigh tavern and 20 
aerosol land to Anthony Hay, [1771.] Joht Gn nhow & 
Co., i xecutors ol lla\ , for £2,000, sold the i ■ 
ill acres of land to James Southall. 



142 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXII. 



[September 4th, 1774.] The old continen- 
tal congress met at Carpenter's Hall in Phil- 
adelphia. Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, was 
chosen president. Patrick Henry was the 
first to break the silence of the assembly. 
His speech satisfied all, that he was the great- 
est orator, not only in Virginia, but in Ame- 
rica. He was "Shakspeare and Garrick com- 
bined." He was followed by Richard Henry 
Lee, in whom genius, learning, virtue and 
patriotism were happily united. Although 
he had applied for the office of collector of 
the Stamp Duty, yet he became one of the 
earliest and most active opponents of it, and 
the county of Westmoreland, where his in- 
fluence was felt, claims the honor of having 
led the way in organized opposition. * As 
Patrick Henry was reckoned the Demosthe- 
nes of America, so Richard Henry Lee was 
acknowledged to be the Cicero. It was soon 
discovered, however, that while Henry tow- 
ered supereminent in oratory, — yet in com- 
position and in the routine of actual business, 
he was surpassed by many. The congress 
adjourned in October. Mr. Henry, on his 
return home, being asked " who was the 
greatest man in congress?" replied, "if you 
speak of eloquence, Mr. Rutledge, of South 
Carolina, is by far the greatest orator ; but if 
you speak of solid information and sound 
judgment, Colonel Washington is unques- 
tionably the greatest man on that floor." 
Dickinson of Pennsylvania composed the pe- 
tition to the king and the address to the 
inhabitants of Quebec ; Jay, of New York, 
the address to the people of Great Britain, 
and Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, the me- 
morial to the inhabitants of the British colo- 
nies. 

It had long been a custom in Virginia to 
form independent companies for military dis- 
cipline. Several of these now solicited Col. 
Washington to take command of them. He 
consent) d. In the apprehension of war all 
eyes involuntarily turn< d to him as the first 
military character in the colony. 

[April, 1771. | Some hostilities occurred 
between the Indians and the whites, on the 
frontier of Virginia. On which side these 
outrages commenced, was a matter of dis- 
pute. The whites, however, were probably 

* See in Southern I. it. Messenger, vol. 8, p. 257, the 
Westmoreland Association, dated February -'7, 1706, "I 
winch Richard Henry Lee is the iii-i subscriber. 



the aggressors. An Indian war being appre- 
hended, Governor Dunmore appointed Gen- 
eral Andrew Lewis, of Botetourt county, to 
the command of the Southern division of the 
forces, volunteer and militia, raised for the 
occasion in Botetourt, Augusta and the ad- 
joining counties, East of the Blue Ridge ; 
while his lordship in person took command 
of those levied in the Northern counties, 
Frederick, Dunmore, (now Shenandoah,) and 
the adjacent counties. According to the 
plan of the campaign, Lewis was to march 
to Point Pleasant, (where the great Kanawha 
empties into the Ohio,) there to be joined by 
the Governor. About the 1st of September, 
1774, the troops placed under command of 
Gen'l Lewis, rendezvoused at Camp Union,* 
(now Lewisburg,) and they consisted of two 
regiments, commanded by Colonel William 
Fleming, of Botetourt, and Colonel Charles 
Lewis, of Augusta, and each containing 
about four hundred men. At Camp Union 
they were joined by an independent volun- 
teer company, under Col. John Field, of Cul- 
pepper, a company from Bedford, under Col. 
Buford, and two companies from the Holstein 
Settlement, (now Washington county,) under* 
Captains Evan Shelby and Harbert. These 
three latter companies were part of the forces 
to be led on by Col. Christian, who was to 
join the troops at Point Pleasant, as soon as 
his regiment should be completed. [Sep- 
tember 11th.] General Lewis, with eleven 
hundred men commenced his march. The 
route lay through a wilderness. The division 
was piloted by Capt. Matthew Arbuckle. The 
flour, ammunition and camp equipage, were 
transported on pack-horses ; bullocks were 
driven in the rear of the little army. After 
a inarch of nineteen days, during which they 
proceeded 1G0 miles, they reached Point 
Pleasant, [Sept. 30th,] the angle formed by 
the junction of the great Kanawha, ("the 
river of woods,'') with the beautiful Ohio. 
The ground of the encampment is high and 
strong, ami commands an extensive and pic- 
turesque prospect. Dunmore failing to join 
Lewis here, he sent out runners towards Fort 
Pitt, in quest of him. But before their re- 
turn, an express from the governor n acl ed 
Point Pleasant, [October 9th. J ordering Lewis 



* Col. Stewart, in his accotmt of the Indian Wars, falls 
it Fort Savannah. 



1763-74.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



143 



to march for the Chilicothe towns and there 
join him. Preparations were immediately 
made for crossing the Ohio, but on the morn- 
ing of the following day, Monday, [October 
10th, 1774,] two soldiers, starting from the 
camp on a hunting excursion, proceeded up 
the bank of the Ohio. When they had gone 
about two miles, they came upon a large 
body of Indians just rising from their en- 
campment and who firing killed one of them; 
the other escaping unhurt, running rapidly 
back to the camp, reported that " he had 
seen a body of the enemy covering four acres 
of ground as closely as they could stand by 
the side of each other." It was the famous 
chief, Cornstalk, at the head of an army of 
Delawares, Mingoes, Cayugas, Wyandots and 
Shawnees. But for the hunter's intelligence, 
they would have surprized the camp of the 
Provincials. General Lewis upon learning 
the enemy's approach, lit his pipe and imme- 
diately sent forward the main body of his 
army, a detachment of Augusta troops, under 
his brother, Col. Charles Lewis, and another 
of Botetourt troops, under Col. Fleming. 
The General with the reserve, remained for 
the defence of the camp. The advanced 
corps formed in two lines, moved forward 
about four hundred yards, when they met the 
enemy arrayed in the same order. The ac- 
tion commenced a little after sunrise, by a 
heavy firing from the Indians. The two ar- 
mies extended at right angles to the Ohio, 
through the woods to Crooked Creek, which 
empties into the great Kanawha a little above 
its mouth. In a short time, Col. Charles 
Lewis being mortally wounded * and Col. 
Fleming severely, their troops gave way and 
retreated towards the camp until met by a 
reinforcement under Col. Field, when they 
rallied and maintained their ground. The 
engagement now became general and was 
sustained with obstinate valor on both sides. 
The Provincials being thus hemmed in be- 
tween the two rivers, with the Indian line ol 
battle in front, General Lewis employed the 
troops from the more Eastern parts of the 
colony and who were less experienced in 
Indian fighting, in throwing up a breast- 



* Tliis gallant and estimable officer, uhen struck by the 
fatal ball, fell at the foot of a tree, when he was against his 
own wish carried to his tent by Capt. Morrow ami a pri- 
vate and died in a few hours., ills loss was deeply lamen- 
ted. 



work of the boughs and trunks of trees across 
the angle made by the Kanawha and the 
Ohio. About 12 o'clock, the Indian lire be- 
gan to slacken and the enemy slowly and re- 
luctantly gave way, being driven back less 
than two miles in six or seven hours. A des- 
ultory fire was still kept up from behind 
trees, and the whites as they pressed on tin- 
retreating foe, were repeatedly ambuscaded. 
At length General Lewis detached three com- 
panies, commanded by Capt. Isaac Shelby, 
George Matthews and John Stuart, with or- 
ders to move secretly along the banks of the 
Kanawha and Crooked Creek, so as to gain 
the rear of the enemy. This manoeuvre be- 
ing successfully executed, the savages at 4 
o'clock, P. M. tied, and during the night re- 
crossed the Ohio. The loss of the whites in 
this battle, has been variously estimated at 
from 40 to 75 killed, and 140 wounded, a large 
proportion of the whole number of the troops 
actually engaged, who did not exceed 550. 
One hundred of Lewis' men, including his 
best marksmen, were absent in the woods 
hunting and knew nothing of the battle until 
it was all over. Among the killed were Col. 
Charles Lewis, Col. Field, who had served in 
Braddock's war, Captains Buford, Morrow, 
Murray, Ward, Cundiff, Wilson and McClen- 
achan ; Lieuts. Allen, Goldsby and Dillon, 
and several other subalterns. ' The loss of 
the savages was never ascertained. The bo- 
dies of 33 slain were found, but many had 
been thrown into the Ohio during the action. 
The number of the Indian army was not 
known, but it comprised the (lower of the 
northern confederated tribes, led on by Red- 
hawk, a Delaware chief; Scoppathus, a Min- 
go; Chiyawee, a Wyandot; Logan, a Cayuga, 
and Ellinipsico and his father, Cornstalk, 
Shawnees. Cornstalk displayed great skill and 



* Among the officer* in the kittle ol Poinl Picas, nit were 
Gen. Isaac Shelby, the lii-t govi rnoi ol Kentucky ami af- 
terwards Secretary ol War; General William Campbell, 
the lnio of King's Mountain and Col. John Campbell, who 
distinguished himself at. Long Island; Gen. Evan Shelby, 
who became an eminent citizen of Tennessee ; Col. Wil- 
liam l'h mil ■■ . .i revolutionary patriot; Gen. Andrew Moore, 
United States Senator from Virginia; Col. John Stewarl 
ol Greenbrier; General Tate ol Washington County, Vir- 
ginia ; Col. William McKeeol Kentucky; Col. John 
Governor ol the Mississippi Territory ; Col Charles Cam- 
eron, of Bath ; General Bazaleel Wells.ol Ohio ; and Gen- 
eral George Matthews, who distinguished himsell at Brun- 
dywine, Germantown, and Guilford, and was a Governoi 
.a Georgia and an United States Senator hum thai State. 



144 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXII. 



courage ; when one of his warriors evinced 
a want of firmness in his action, he slew him 
with one blow of his tomahawk, and during 
the day his voice could be heard above the 
din of arms, exclaiming in his native tongue, 
" bo strong, be strong." 

After the battle, General Lewis having bu- 
ried the dead of his own troops and made 
provision for the wounded, erected a small 
fort at Point Pleasant and leaving a garrison 
there, marched to overtake Lord Dunmore, 
who, with a thousand men, lay entrenched 
near the Shawnee towns on the banks of the 
Scioto. The Indians having sued to him for 
peace, his lordship having determined to make 
a treaty with them, sent orders to Lewis 
to halt, (or according to others,) to return to 
Point Pleasant. Lewis, however, suspecting 
the governor's good faith, and finding himself 
threatened by a superior force of Indians who 
hovered in his rear, disregarding Dunmore's 
order, advanced to within three miles of the 
Governor's camp. His lordship, accompa- 
nied by the Indian chief, White-Eyes, now 
visited the camp of Lewis and he (according 
to some relations) with difficulty restrained 
his men from killing the Governor and his 
Indian companion. General Lewis now, to 
his great chagrin, received orders to return 
home with his division. This order was re- 
luctantly obeyed. General Andrew Lewis 
resided on the Roanoke, in the county of 
Botetourt. He was one of six sons of John 
Lewis, the early pioneer of Augusta county. 
In Braddock's war, he was in a company, in 
which were all his brothers, the eldest, Sam- 
uel Lewis, being the captain of it. This 
company displayed great courage at Brad- 
dock's defeat. Major Andrew Lewis was 
made prisoner at Grant's defeat, where he 
exhibited extraordinary prudence and cour- 
age, lie was twice wounded at the capture 
of Fort Necessity and was subsequently a 
meritorious officer during the revolutionary 
war. (Jen. Lewis was upwards of six feet 
high, of uncommon strength and agility, and 
of a form of exact symmetry. His counte- 
nance was sti rn and invincible, his deport- 
nient reserved and distant. lie was a com- 
missioner with Dr. Thomas Walker on behalf 
of Virginia, al the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, 
in New York, [1768.] 1 1 was then that the 
governor of New York remarked of him, that 



" the earth seemed to tremble under him as 
he walked along." * 

Dunmore remaining, concluded a treaty! 
with the Indians. Upon this occasion Corn- 
stalk, in a long speech, charged the whites 
with having provoked the war. His tones of 
thunder resounded over a camp of twelve 
acres. Logan, the Cayuga chief, assented to 
the treaty, but still indignant at the murder 
of his family, refused to attend with the other 
chiefs at the camp. He sent his speech in a 
wampum-belt by an interpreter. " I appeal 
to any white man to say, if ever he entered 
Logan's cabin hungry and he gave him not 
meat ; if ever he came cold and naked and 
he clothed him not. During the course of 
the last long and bloody war, Logan remain- 
ed idle in his cabin an advocate for peace. 
Such was my love for the whites that my 
countrymen pointed as they passed and said, 
'Logan, is the friend of the white men.' I 
had even thought to have lived with you but 
for the injuries of one man. Col. Cresap 
the last Spring in cold blood and unprovoked 
murdered all the relations of Logan not even 
sparing my women and children. There 
runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of 
any living creature. This called on me for 
revenge. I have sought it; I have killed 
many: I have fully glutted my vengeance. 
For my country I rejoice at the beams of 
peace. But do not harbor a thought that 
mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt 
fear. He will uol turn on his heel to save 
his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan ? 
Not one." t 



* Howe's Historical Collections of Virginia, pp. 3GI, 
:iiifj, 'H) I, '2i>r>. Dr. Campbell's .Memoir in Appendix. 

t According to Col. A. Lewis of Montgomery, there was 
no treaty effected till the following Spring. See Memoir 
in Appendix. 

1 Logan's family had indeed bei n massacred by a party 
of whites in reialiation for some Indian murders, but the 
against Cresap appears to have been unfounded. 
Mr Jefferson gave implicit credit to the authenticit) of 
this speech. See Appendix to Notes on Virginia. Dod- 
dridge, in Kercheval, is of the same opinion. Jacob, in 
the same work, insinuates that the speech was a counter- 
feit and insists that ll genuine, u was false in its state- 
ments, and that Cresap was as humane as brave and had 
no hand in I he deaih c.l Logan's family, and adds thai in the 
original speech Cresap was nol named. The first sentence 
oi the speech in part, closely resembles a Scriptural ex- 
pression in St. Matthew, c Id, i ■■■ 36. Logan was a half- 
breed. IK' died a sot. 



1774-76.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA, 



145 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 
1774—1776. 

Suspicions entertained against Dunmore ; Daniel Boone; 
Kentucky; Second Virginia Convention; Patrick Hen- 
ry's Speech : Thomas Jefferson ; Dunmore removes the 
Gunpowder from the Magazine; Disturbances at VVH. 
liamsbnrg; Henry recovet c in pen ttion (or the Pon- 
der; Mecklenburg North Carolina Declaration el" Inde- 
pendence. Further commotions at V\ 
more retires aboard the Fowey ; V\ appointed 

mander-in-Chief ; Convention meets at Richmond ; 
Dunmore's predatory war ; Affair of the Great Bridge; 
Norfolk Burnt; Indignity offered Henry; l r " retires 
from the Army ; Pendleton ; Miscellaneous affairs ; Dec- 
laration of Independence ; Wythe; V ' nry Lee; 
Francis Lightfoot Lee. 

Suspicions were not w anting that the fron- 
tier had been embroiled in this India!! war 
by the machinations of Dunmore, and that 
his ultimate object was to secure an alii 
with the savages, to aid England in tl 
pected contest with the colonies. These 
suspicions were strengthened by his equivo- 
cal conduct during the campaign. He was 
also suspected of fomenting the boundan 
altercations between Pennsylvania and Vir- 
ginia on the North-Western frontier with the 
same sinister views. It is probable, however, 
that his lordship in this particular was prompt- 
ed rather by motives of personal interest than 
<>!' political manoeuvre. : And the as 
upon his return to Williamsburg, gave him a 
vote of thanks for his good conduct of the 
war, a compliment however which i: w; 
terwards doubted whether he had merited. 
To say the least, his motives in thai campaign 
are involved in uncertainty. There i- ; a cu- 
rious coincidence between the administration 
of Dunmore and that of Sir William Berke- 
ley, in relation to Indian war and in other 
particulars. 

[May, 1769.] Daniel Boone resigning do- 
mestic happiness, left bis family and | 

* Dunmore's agent, Conolly, vms "locating" large traeis 
of new i. iii. N mi the liuid" r^ ..I il,'' < >hio. See Jacob's ac- 
count in Kercheval's History ol the Valley. Murray, a 
grandson ol governor Dunmore anil Queen's page, visited 
lited States some years ago, partly, it was said, for 
the purpose ol making enquirj cot ci rn lands, the 

title ol w liich was ill Ifal In r. M urraj 

visited some of the old si il ver James, and makes 

mention dl them in his pleasing ible " Travels in 

the United Stati »." 



ful home on the bank of the Yadkin river, in 
North Carolina, "to wander through the wil- 
derness of Ann rica in quest of the country 
of Kentucky/' In this exploration of the 
unknown regions of Western Virginia, he 
was accompanied by five companions. June 
7th, reaching Red river, they beheld from an 
eminence an extensive prospect of ''the beau- 
tiful level of Kentucky." Encamping they 
began to hunt and reconnoitre the country. 
Innumerable buffalo browsed on the leaves 
of the cane, or pastured on the herbage of 
the plains, or lingered on the borders of the 
salt " lick." [December 22nd.] Boone and a 
comrade, Joint Stuart, rambling in the mag- 
nificence of forests yet unscarred by the axe, 
were surprised by a party of Indians and 
captured. Meeting tins catastrophe with a 
resolute mien of indifference, they contrived 
to effect their escape in the night. Return- 
ing to their camp they found it plundered 
and deserted. Tl'.;: fate of its occupants 
could not be doubted. A brother of Boone, 
with another hardy adventurer, shortly after 
overtook the two forlorn survivors. Stuart 
not long afterwards was slain by the savag< s; 
the companion of Boone's brother, by wolves. 
The two brothers remained in a howling wil- 
derness untrod by the white man, surround- 
ed by perils and far from the reach of succor. 
With unshaken fortitude they continued to 
hunt, and erected a rude cabin to shelter 
i hem from the storms of winter. When 
threatened by the approach of savages, the 
brothers lay during the night concealed in 
swamps. [May 1st, 1770.] Says Boone, " my 
brother returned home for a new recruit of 
horses and ammunition, leaving me alone, 
without bread, salt or sugar, or even a horse 
or a dog." In one of his solitary excursions 
made at ibis time, alter wandering during the 
whole day through scenes teeming with nat- 
ural charms that dispelled every gloomy 
thought, "just at the close of day the orntle 
eased ; a profound calm ensued ; not 
! breath shook the tremulous leaf. I had 
o-ained the summit of a. commanding ridge 
and looking around with astonishing delight, 
beheld the ample plains and beauteous tracts 
below. On one hand I surveyed the famous 
Ohio, rolling in silent dignity am! marking 
the Western boundary of Kentucky, within- 
conceivable grandeur. At a vast distance 
1 1 beheld the mountains lilt their venerable 



It) 



146 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXIII. 



brows and penetrate the clouds. All things 
were still. I kindled a fire near a fountain 
of sweet water and feasted on the loin of a 
buck, which I had killed a few hours before. 
The shades of night soon overspread the 
hemisphere and the earth seemed to gasp 
after the hovering moisture. At a distance 
I frequently heard the hideous yells of sava- 
ges. My excursion had fatigued my body 
and amused my mind. I laid me down to 
sleep and awoke not till the sun had chased 
away the night." " No populous city, with 
all its varieties of commerce and stately 
structures, could afford so much pleasure to 
my mind as the beauties of nature I found in 
this country." [July 7th, 1770.] Boone, re- 
joined by his brother, explored the country 
to the borders -of the Cumberland river. 
[March, 1771.] Daniel Boone returned to his 
home on the Yadkin, sold his possessions 
there, and started with his own and five other 
families to return and settle in Kentucky, the 
" Bloody Ground." On the route he was 
re-inforced by a party of forty men. [Octo- 
ber 10th.] In a skirmish with a party of In- 
dians, six of Boone's men were slain — amono- 
them his eldest son. This happened in view 
of the Cumberland mountains — those huo-e 
piles, the aspect of whose cliffs " is so wild 
and horrid that it is impossible to behold 
them without horror." Until June 6th, 1774, 
Boone remained with his family on the bor- 
ders of the Clinch river, when at the requesl 
of Governor Dunmore, he went to assist in 
convoying a party of surveyors to the falls of 
the Ohio. He was next employed by Dun- 
more in the command of three garrisons dur- 
ing the campaign against the Shawnecs. 
[March, 1775.] At the solicitation of a num- 
ber of gentlemen of North Carolina, Boone, 
at the treaty of Wataga, purchased from the 
Cherokees the lands on the South side of 1 
Kentucky river. Alter this he undertook to 
mark out a road in the best passage from the; 
settlement through the wilderness !<> Ken- 
tucky. During this work) lie and his men 
were twice attacked by the Indians. Early 
in 1??.'"), he erected a fort at Boonsborough, 
near the Kentucky river. In June, he re- 
turned to his family on the Clinch, and re- 
moved them to Boonsborough. I lis wife and 
daughter were supposed to be the first white 
women that ever stood upon the banks of 
the Kentuckv river. Boonsboroucrh was lon<T 
an outpost "f ci\ ilization. 



The second Virginia Convention, met in 
the church of St. John's, in Richmond, on 
Monday, the 20th of March, 1775. The pro- 
ceedings of Congress were approved. Pat- 
rick Henry introduced resolutions for put- 
ting the colony in a state of defence against 
the encroachments of Great Britain. Many 
of the members of the convention recoiled 
in horror from this startling proposition, and 
it was strenuously resisted even by some of 
the warmest patriots, as Bland, Harrison, 
Pendleton and Nicholas. They held such a 
step premature, till the result of the last pe- 
tition to the king should be more fully known. 
Henry's resolutions were however carried. 
Washington voted for them. It was on this 
occasion that Henry made the celebrated 
speech, in which he exclaimed: "We must 
fight : I repeat it sir, we must fight ! * An 
appeal to arms and the God of Hosts, is all 
that is left us," Measures were taken to 
promote the culture of wool, cotton, flax and 
hemp, and to encourage domestic manufac- 
tures and the members of the convention 
agreed to make use of home-made fabrics, 
and recommended the practice to the people. 
The former delegates to Congress, were re- 
elected, with the substitution, however, of 
Mr. Jefferson in lieu of Peyton Randolph, in 
case of 'lis non-attendance. Mr. Randolph 
being speaker of the house of burgesses, did 
not attend that congress and Mr. Jefferson 
took his place. 

Thomas Jefferson was born at Shadwell, 
in the county of Albemarle, [April 2nd, 17-13.] 
According to a family tradition, his paternal 
ancestors came from Wales. His grand- 
father lived at Osborne's, on the James river, 
in the county of Chesterfield. Peter (father 
of Thomas) settled at Shadwell, in the coun- 
ty of Albemarle, lie was born February 
29th, 170S. and intermarried, [1739,] with 
.lane Randolph of the age of 19, daughter of 
Isham Randolph, of Dungeness, in Gooch- 
land county. The Randolphs, (says IVfr.Jef- 
ferson,) ''trace their pedigree far hack in 
England and Scotland, to which let every 
one ascribe the faith and merit he chooses." 
Peter Jefferson's early education had been 



y Tlic expression, " It < must fight," was used four months! 
previously, bj Major Hawley ol Mnssachiisi lis, in a letter 
to Mr. John Adams, which he shewed to Mr. Henry, while 
i'm \ wi re together in the flrsl congress. 2. stalks' Wri- 
tings ol Washington, p. 105, citing Tudor's Life of Otis, 



1774-76.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



147 



much neglected, but being a man of strong 
parts, he read much and so improved himself, 
that he was chosen, with Joshua Fry, profes- 
sor of mathematics in William and Mary Col- 
lege, to continue the boundary line (between 
Virginia and North Carolina) which had been 
begun by Colonel Byrd, and was afterwards 
employed with the same Mr. Fry, to make 
the fir.-t regular map of Virginia that was 
ever made, that of Captain Smith being only 
a conjectural sketch. Peter Jefferson was 
the third or fourth settler, about the year 1737, 
in Goochland county, since known as Albe- 
marle. * Dying [August 17th, 1757,] he left 
a widow (who survived till 177b') with six 
daughters and two sons, of which Thomas 
was the elder. He inherited the lands on 
which he was born and lived. Pie was pla- 
ced at an English school when five years of 
age, and when nine at a Latin school, where 
he continued till his father's death. His 
teacher, Rev. Mr. Douglas, taught him the 
rudiments of Latin and Greek and the French. 
At his father's death, young Jefferson was 
put under the care of Rev. Mr. Maury, a good 
classical scholar, with whom he continued 
two years. In the spring of 1760 he went 
to William and Mary College, where he re- 
mained for two years. Dr. William Small, a 
native of Scotland, was then professor of 
mathematics, a man of engaging manners, 
large views and profound science. He short- 
ly after filled for a time the chair of Ethicks, 
Rhetoric and Belles Lettres. He formed a 
strong attachment for young Jefferson and 
made him the daily companion of his leisure 
hours, and it was his conversation that first 
gave him a bent, towards scientific pursuits. 
Small returned, [1762,] to Europe. Before 
his departure, he had procured for young 
Jefferson, from George Wythe, a reception 
as a student of law under his direction and 
had also introduced him to the familiar ac- 
quaintance of Governor Fauquier, who was 
esteemed by Mr. Jefferson, as the ablest man 
that had ever filled thai office. A.1 Fauquier's 
table, Jefferson habitually met Dr. Small and 
Mr. Wythe, and from the conversation of 
these eminent men. ! : ■ lerived a great deal 
of instruction. 1 1 v\ a in 1765 as has been 
seen, while a law-studenl at William burg, 



* Albemarle was formed II It, oul of purl of G 
whii li had been created [1727] from pari ol Hi mil 
tin's Gazetteer of Va., pp. I IV-179. 



Mar- 



that he heard the debate on Patrick Henry's 
Resolutions. 

[1767.] Jefferson entered into the prac- 
tice of the law in the General Court and 
continued in it until the Revolution closed 
the courts of justice. [1769.] He became 
a member of the Assembly for the county ol 
Albemarle and so continued active, ardent 
and patriotic until its meetings were sus- 
pended by the war. He made an unsuccess- 
ful effort in that body for the emancipation 
of the slaves in Virginia. [January 1st, 
1772.] He married Martha, widow of Ba- 
thurstSkelton, and daughter of John Wayles, 
a lawyer. She was then only 23 years of age, 
Her father dying, [May, 1773,] left three 
daughters. The portion that fell to Martha 
was about equal to Mr. Jefferson's patrimo- 
ny. * [1773.] Mr. Jefferson contributed to 
the formation of Committees of Correspon- 
dence between the Colonial Legislatures. 
[1774.] He was elected member of the Con- 
vention, appointed to meet at Williamsburg 
on the 1st of August ensuing, for the pur- 
pose of considering the state of the Colony 
and to elect delegates to Congress. In the 
interval before the meeting of the Conven- 
tion, he prepared a draught of instructions 
for the Virginia delegates in Congress, in 
which he took the bold ground that the 
British parliament had no right whatever to 
exercise any authority over the Colony of 
Virginia. These instructions being commu- 
nicated through the President, Peyton Ran- 
dolph, to the Convention, were generally 
read and approved by many, though held too 
bold for the present. But they printed them 
in a pamphlet under the title of "A Sum- 
mary View of the Rights of British Ameri- 
ca." t This elaborate production displays a 



* Memoirs and Correspondence of Jefferson, vol. 1, 
pp. L-3. 

f To be found in Amer. Archives, (published by Con- 
gress,) llii Siilrs, I si \o!., p. 690, Sri' a No | Wril 

,. pp, 100-1 Hi 'I'll'' i" low in : excerpts an' taken 
from it: " History has informed us, that bodies ol men as 
well as individuals, are susceptible ol the spirit of tyran- 
ny." " Scarcely have our minds been able to emerge from 
the astonishment into which one stroke of parliamentary 
thunder lias involved us, before another more heavy ,u\i\ 
more alarming is fallen on us." "The great principles of 
riaht and wrong are legible to every reader ; to pursue them 
requires not the aid ol many counsellors. The wholi an 
ol overnmenl consists in the arl of being honest ; only 
.en to do your duty and mankind will give you credit where 
you fail. No longer persevere in sacrificing the rights of 
one put of the empire to the inordinate desiresof another, 



MS 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXIII. 



profound knowledge of the history and con- 
stitutional rights of the colony. It breathes 
a fiery spirit of defiance and revolution, and 
the splendor of elevated declamation in some 
of its passages is not inferior to Junius. If 
some of its statements are loose and some 
of its views erroneous, yet all is bold, acute, 
luminous and impressive. This pamphlet 
found its way to England, was taken up by 
the opposition, interpolated a little by Ed- 
mund Burke, so as to make it answer oppo- 
sition purposes, and in that form it ran 
through several editions. Owing to his au- 
thorship of it, Lord Dun more it is said threat- 
ened Mr. Jefferson with a prosecution for 
treason, and his name was enrolled in a 
bill of attainder commenced in one of the 
houses of parliament, but never consumma- 
ted. Among the proscribed were Peyton 
Randolph, John Adams, Samuel Adams, 
John Hancock and Patrick Henry. 

[1775.] The popular commotions increas- 
ed. The heavings of the ocean betokened a 
gathering storm. The return of Dunmore 
from his Indian expedition was soon followed 
by violence. In compliance with orders re- 
ceived from England, the governor, [20th of 
April, 1775,] clandestinely, in the night, con- 
veyed the powder from the magazine at Wil- 
liamsburg, on board the Magdalen man-of- 
war. Anticipating the people's resentment, 
he armed his servants and some Shawnee 
hostages, for the protection of his p 
Muskets lay on the palace lioor, loaded and 
primed for the occasion. Peyton Randolph, 
Robert Carter Nicholas and others, with dif- 
ficulty restrained the people from assaulting 
the palace. The common council of Wil- 
liamsburg, in an address, requested a r< sto- 
ration of the powder. His lordship pretend- 
ed that its removal was owing to intelligence 
of a servile insurrection in a neighboring 
county and gave an ambiguous promise to 
return the powder. Alarms repeatedly oc- 
curred and the patrol of the capital was 
strengthened. [April 22.] Dunmore sent a 
message to the city, that if any viol< nee 

but deal out to all equal and impartial right. Le! noac.l be 
passed by any one legislature, winch may i 
rights and liberties of another." "Accept ol every com- 
mercial preference il is in our power to give, for such things 
as we can raise for their use, or they make for ours. Bui 
let them not think lo exclude us from going to other mar 
kits, to disposed those commodities, which the) cannot 
use, or to supply those wants, which they cannot supply." 



should be offered to Capt. Foy, his Secreta- 
ry, or to Capt. Collins of the Magdalen, he 
would proclaim freedom to the slaves and 
lay the town in ashes. Yet neither Foy nor 
Collins had received any indignity from the 
inhabitants. Rumors of the removal of the 
gunpowder and the stripping the muskets in 
the magazine, of their locks, and the threats 
of the governor spread through the country. 
The excitement was aggravated by news of 
the engagements at Lexington and Concord. 
Independent companies now raised the col- 
ors of liberty in every county. [April 27th.] 
Seven hundred armed men were assembled 
at Fredericksburg. Troops were collected 
at the Bowling Green ami others on their 
march from Frederick, Berkeley, Dunmore 
and other counties were arrested in their 
course by information that the affair of the 
gunpowder was about to be accommodated. 
The Committee of Safety for the county of 
Hanover recommended that reprisals should 
be made upon the king's property for the 
loss of the gunpowder. The volunteers of 
Hanover met at Newcastle and were ha- 
rangued by Patrick Henry with such effect, 
that they resolved to recover the powder or 
make a reprisal for it. : ' : Captain Samuel 
Meredith resigned in Mr. Henry's favor and 
lie was invested with the command. Hav- 
ing received orders from the Hanover com- 
mittee accordant with his own suggestions. 
Captain Henry marched towards Williams- 
burg. Ensign Parke Goodall with sixteen, 
men was detached into King & Queen coun- 
ty to Laneville, (on the Matapony,) the seal 
of Richard Corbin, the king's deputy re- 
ceiver-general, to demand from him three 
hundred and thirty pounds — the estimated 
value of the powder — and in case of refusal, 
to make him a prisoner. The detachment 
reached Laneville about midnight and a guard 
wasstationed around the house. At. daybreak, 
however, Mrs. Corbin assured Goodall that 
I he king's money was never kept there, but at. 
Williamsburg, and that Mr. Corbin was then 
in that city. The news of Henry's march 
spread rapidly; on all sides companies start- 
ed up and were in motion to join his stand- 
ard. The royalists were dismayed. Even 
the patriots at Williamsburg were alarmed, 

■ Burk, vol. I, p. 13. This volume is a continuation of 
Burk, by Skelton Jones and Louis Hue Girardin, mainly 
by the Litter. I shall now lie frequently indebted to him. 



1774-76.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



149 



and Henry was strongly solicited to desist 
' from entering Williamsburg. Dnnmore had 
! planted cannon at his palace and ordered up 
t a detachment of marines from the Fowey 
man-of-war, and threatened to lire upon the 
town as soon as the first of the insurgents 
should enter it. Henry with one hundred 
and fifty men halted at Doncastle's tavern, 
sixteen miles from Williamsburg, and re- 
maining inflexible in effecting his object, 
[4th of May, 1775,] he received from Corbin 
full compensation for the powder and so the 
affair ended. * 

Two days after Henry had received com- 
pensation for the powder. Dunmore issued a 
proclamation denouncing a " certain Patrick 
Henry, Jr., of Hanover, and a number of 
deluded followers," charging them with ex- 
torting £330 from the king's receiver-gen- 
eral and forbidding all persons to aid or abet 
" the said Patrick Henry, Jr.," or his con- 
federates. The council at this time consist- 
ed of President Nelson, Commissary Camin, 
Ralph Wormley, Col. G. Corbin, G. Corbin, 
Jr., William Byrd and John Page. They all si- 
ded with the Governor except the youngest 
member, Page. The council had advised the 
ij-overnor to issue the proclamation against 
Henry, and now published an address in 
which they expressed their " detestation and 
abhorrence for that licentious and ungovern- 
able spirit that had gone forth and misled the 
once happy people of this country." The 
^council now shared the public odium with 
Dunmore. Henry now proceeded on his 
way to Congress at Philadelphia, escorted 
as far as Hooe's ferry on the Potomac, and 
he was overwhelmed with the thanks and 
applause of his countrymen. [May 20th, 
177.).] A Declaration of Independence was 
made at Charlotte in the county of Meck- 
lenburg in North Carolina. In the revolu- 
tionary excitements that then agitated the 
people of the colonies, the people of Meck- 
lenburg frequently met al Charlotte, the 
county seat, to hear the news and to discuss 
the topics of the day. Colonel Thomas Polk, 
a surveyor, who had frequently been a mem- 
ber of the colonial assembly, a man of ex- 
emplary integrity and extensive popularity, 
wasempowered, by general agreement among 

* Col. Carter Braxton was chiefly instrumental in per- 
suading Henry to halt at 1 (oncastle's, and in negotiutjns; ihi 
settlement of ihc affair. 



the people, to c n II a convention whenever he 
should deem it expedient. The representa- 
tives, it was agreed, were to be chosen by 
the people and the proceedings of the Con- 
vention were to be obligatory upon the in- 
habitants of Mecklenburg. Col. Polk ac- 
cordingly issued his notice, [May 19th,] and 
on the following day between twenty and 
thirty representatives ol* the people met in 
the Court-house at Charlotte. A large con- 
course of people were present on the occa- 
sion. Abraham Alexander, a former mem- 
ber of the legislature of North Carolina, a 
magistrate and elder in the Presbyterian 
church, was chosen chairman, John McKnitt 
Alexander and Dr. Ephraim Brevard, clerks. 
Papers were read before the convention and 
the people and among them a handbill 
brought by express giving an account of the 
battle of Lexington in Massachusetts, which 
had taken place April 19th, just one month 
before. Rev. Hezekiah James Balch, Dr. 
Ephraim Brevard and William Kennon, Esq., 
addressed the convention and the people. 
The people cried out, "Let us be indepen- 
dent! Let us declare our independence and 
defend it with our lives and fortunes !" The 
three speakers were appointed to prepare 
resolutions. Sonic drawn up by Dr. Bre- 
vard, and read at a political meeting a lew- 
days before were submitted to the conven- 
tion and referred to the committee for re- 
vision. Gen. .Joseph Graham, then a youth, 
was present at this meeting. The conven- 
tion adjourned at midnight. At noon of 
May 20th, 1775, that, body re-assembled. 
The concourse of people in attendance was 
not diminished, and many wives and moth- 
ers were to be seen anxiously awaiting the 
event. A series of resolutions was now 
passed; proclamation was made and from 
the Court-house steps Col. Thomas Polk 
read t hem as follows : — 

" Resolved, 1st, That whosoever directly 
or indirectly abetted, or in any way, form or 
manner, countenanced the unchartered and 
dangerous invasion of our rights, as claimed 
by Greal Britain, is an enemy to this coun- 
try, to America, and to the inherent and un- 
alienable rights of man. Resolved, 2nd, 
That we the citizens of Mecklenburg coun- 
i\ do hereby dissolve the political bonds 
which have connected us with the mother 
country and hereby absolve ourselves from 



150 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXIII. 



all allegiance to the British crown and ab- 
jure all political connection, contract, or as- 
sociation with that nation who have wan- 
tonly trampled on our rights and liberties — 
inhumanly shed the blood of American pat- 
riots at Lexington. Resolved, 3d, That we do 
hereby declare ourselves a free and indepen- 
dent people ; are and of right ought to be a 
sovereign and sell-governing association un- 
der the control of no power other than that of 
our God and the General Government of the 
Congress : — to the maintenance of which 
independence, we solemnly pledge to each 
other our mutual co-operation, our lives, our 
fortunes and our sacred honor. Resolved, 
4th, That as we acknowledge the existence 
and control of no law, nor legal office, civil 
or military within this county, we do hereby 
ordain and adopt as a rule of life, all, each 
and every of our former laws ; wherein nev- 
ertheless the crown of Great Britain never 
can be considered as holding rights, privi- 
leges, immunities or authority therein. Re- 
solved, 5th, That it is further decreed that 
all, each and every officer in this county is 
hereby retained in his former command and 
authority, he acting conformably to these 
regulations. And that every member pres- 
ent of this delegation shall henceforth be a 
civil officer, viz: a Justice of the Peace in 
the character of a Committee-man to issue 
process, hear and determine all matters of 
controversy according to said adopted laws 
and to preserve peace, union and harmony 
in said county ; and to use every exertion to 
spread the love of country and lire of free- 
dom throughout America, until a general or- 
ganized Government be established in this 
province." * 

* Their arc between the Mecklenburg Declaration and that 
draughted by M r. Jetferson, several coincidences of phrase- 
ology, that seem quite sufficient to prove that Mr. Jefferson 
borrowed several expressions from i !..ii document. It. is true, 
that after a long interval ho made a disclaimer of all know- 
ledge of the Mecklenburg Declaration. Ii is, however, eas) 
enough i" believe that he may have borrowed those phrases 
in thai period ol excitement and after the lapse ol many 
•. i .,; -. m.h have entirely forgotten lire document to which he 
uas indebti d. The following expressions o< curring in the 
'Mecklenburg Dcclan i, are found likewise in the Decla- 
ration of Independence, adopted I I , July 4th, 1776 
1. "Unalienable rights." The words in the Mecklenburg 
Declaration are, " inherent a a- 1 unalienable ri hi ." So too 
in Mr. Jefferson' own o iginal draught, the words used are, 
" inherent and inalienable rights, the words " inherent and" 
having been stricken oul by the Committee. Mr. Jeffer- 
son's MS. shows that la- employed the word inalienable, 
but it is commonly printed "unalienable. '_'. "Dissolved 



Much commotion had been excited, [May 
4th, J by a threat of the Captain of the 
Fowey, that if the party of marines detach- 
ed from his ship for the Governor's protec- 
tion should be molested, he would fire the 
town. The excitement, however, blew over 
and upon the reception of Lord North's 
conciliatory proposition, commonly called 
" the Olive Branch," Dunmore, by the ad- 
vice of the council, convened the house of 
burgesses, and in token of renewed harmo- 
ny, the amiable Lady Dunmore and her fam- 
ily returned from the Fowey, where they had 
taken refuge during these disturbances, to 
the palace. The assembly met on Thursday, 
the 1st of June. The Governor, in his ad- 
dress, presented Lord North's proposition. 
The council's answer was satisfactory to 
Dunmore, but before the burgesses could re- 
ply, a new explosion occurred. Upon Hen- 
ry's approach towards Williamsburg, some 
of the inhabitants, to the great offence of 
the graver citizens, had taken possession of 
some of the few gfuns remaining in the mag- 



the political bonds that have connected." The only differ- 
ence as in these words is, that Mr. Jefferson has it " hands," 
instead of " bonds." 3. " Free am! independent." These 
words, hardly suhjeets of plagiarism, vi ere apparently adopt- 
ed by Mr. Jc fferson ami by the Committee, from the Reso- 
lution declaring the Colon ii s independent, offered by Rich- 
ard Henry Lee, June 7th, 1776. Mr. Lee appears to have 
adopted the u<>nis from the Resolutions of instruction of 
the Convention of Virginia, passed May 15th, 1776. 4. 
The Mecklenburg Declaration says, "absolve ourselves 
from all allegiance to the British Crown." The Declara- 
lion of .Inly lib says, "are absolved from all allegiance lo 
the British Crown." This expression uas borrowed by 
Mr. Lee in his Resolution of June 7th, and adopted from 
Mr. I.ee's Resolution, by the Committee. Mr. Jell", .son's 
own oi ; r'mal draught has it, " renounce all allegiance to the 
kings ol Great Britain" &c. 5. "Are and of right ought 
lo ho." These being customary wouL in parliamentary 
declaratory acts, are h,inl\ mi' jects of plagiarism. They 
appeal however to have been adopted from Mr. Lee's Res- 
olution, by the Committee. 6. "Abjure all political con- 
nection." The Declaration ■ ■! July Ith expresses h, "that 
nil poli: iral connexion between them and ihe State ol Great 
lint, an is, ami ought to be, tol illj dissolved." Mr. Jeffer- 
son's own original draught has it, " we utterlj dissolve all 

political connexion." 7. "We solemnlj ph 

other, our mutual co-operation, our lues, our fortunes an, I 
our sacred honor." The Declaration of July 4th employs 

the < s| ion, " We mutually pledge to each oth, I our 

lives, mn fortunes, and om sacred honor." See I Mar- 
shall's Washington, note 6. I Jefferson's Writings pp. 15 
and 21, ami fac simili of the MS, Declaration of Indepen- 
dence appi a led to vol. 1. Jones' Defence of North Caro- 
hi,.,, .hem,' Memorialsof Norlh Carolina. Foote's Sketch 
rt.li Carolina, pp. 37 and 38. Henina, vol. 1. pp. 
32-3C Sou I. t. Mess., vol. t,pp. 209-210-212 213. .Mar- 
tin's Hist, oi North Carolina, vol. 2, pp. 372-376. 






1774-76.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



151 



azine. On the night of Monday, June oth, 
a number of persons having assembled at 
the magazine to furnish themselves with 
arms, two or three upon entering the door 
were wounded by spring-guns, placed there 
by order of the governor. Several barrels 
of powder were also found buried in the 
magazine to be used, (it was suspected,) as 
a mine when occasion should offer. Early 
on the next morning, June 6th, Lord Dun- 
more with his family escaped from Williams- 
burg to return no more and took shelter on 
board the Fowey. A correspondence that 
now ensued between him and the assembly 
resulted in no agreement, and the house 
after declaring that there was reason to ap- 
prehend a dangerous attack upon the peo- 
ple of the colony and that preparations for 
resistance ought to be made and still ex- 
pressing an anxious desire for harmony with 
the mother country, at length adjourned. 
The delegates were summoned at the same 
time to meet in convention at Richmond. 
[17th of June, 1775.] On the occasion of 
this adjournment, Richard Henry Lee, stand- 
ing with two other burgesses in the portico 
of the capitol, wrote with his pencil on a 
pillar these lines : — 

" When shall we three meet again, 
In thunder, lightning and in ram .' 
When the Inn l\ -burly's done, 
When the battle's lost and won."* 

[June 25th.] Shortly after Dunmore's 
flight, a party of twenty-four persons remo- 
ved a quantity of arms from the palace to the 
magazine, t The governor had been request- 
ed to authorize the removal and had refused. 
Nightly watches were now established in 
Williamsburg, and measures were taken to 
protect the place against surprise. The 
neighboring counties contributed men for 
this purpose. June 29th, the Magdalen 
schooner sailed from York, with lady Dun- 
more and the rest of the governor's family, 
for England. The Magdalen was convoyed 
to the capes by the Fowey. This ship was 
soon after relieved by the Mercury, of 21 



* Wirt's Life of Henry, p. 157. 

1 Bland Papers, vol. I, p. xxiii, where the names of the 
party may be found ; among them were Theodorick Bland, 
Jr., Richard Kidder Meade, Benjamin Harrison. Jr., ol 
Berkley, and .lames Monroe. John Carter Littlepage was 
active among the patriots at Williamsburg. 



guns. The governor's domestics now aban- 
doned the palace and removed to Porto-Bel- 

lo, i!i'.' governor's seat, about six miles from 
Williamsburg. Dunmore look up bis station 
at Portsmouth. 

[14th of June, 1775.] George Washing- 
ton was unanimously elected by congress, 
commander-in-chief of the armies of the 
United Colonies. Impressed with a profound 
sense of the responsibility of the trust, he 
accepted it, declining all compensation for 
his services and avowing an intention to keep 
an account of his expenses, which he should 
rely on congress to discharge. He took com- 
mand of the army, near Boston, July 3rd. * 

On Monday, the 24th of July, 1775, the 
convention met at Richmond. Measures 
were taken for raising two regiments of reg- 
ular troops for one year, and to enlist part of 
the militia as minute-men. A committee of 
safety was organized to take charge of the 
executive duties of the colony. The com- 
mittee consisted of eleven gentlemen, Ed- 
mund Pendleton, George Mason, John Page, 
Richard Bland, Thomas Ludwell Lee, Paul 
Carrington, Dudley Digges, William Cabell, 
Carter Braxton, James Mercer and John 
Tabb. Patrick Henry was elected Colonel 
of the first regiment and commander of all 
the forces raised and to be raised for the de- 
fence of thi' colony. William Woodford, who 
had served meritoriously in the French and 
Indian war, was appointed to the command 
of the second regiment. Troops were rapidly 
recruited. [20th of September.] Col. Henry 
selected an encampment in the rear of the 
College of William & Mary. 

[October 22nd, 1775.] Died suddenly of 
an apoplexy, at Philadelphia, Peyton Ran- 
dolph, t aged 52 years. Descended from an 

* [June 26th, 177") ] Mr. Jefferson was ad. led to a com- 
mittee of congress, appointed to draw up a declaration of 
the causes of taking up arms. He prepared a declaration, 
but it proving too strong foi Mr. Dickinson, ol Pennsylva- 
nia, he v\as indulged in preparing a far tamer statement, 
which was howi ver accepted by Congress. " The disgust 
ugainst its humility was general, and Mr. Dickinson's de 
light at its passage, was the only circumstance which re- 
conciled them to it. The vote being passed, although fur- 
ther observation on it. was out of order, he could nol refrain 
from rising a "I expressing Ins satisfaction, and concluded 
by saying, ; there is but one word, Mr. President, in the 
paper, which I disapprove, and that is the word C 
On which Ben Harrisonro.se and said, ' there is but one 
word in the paper, Mr. President, of which I approve, and 
that is the word Congress.'" 1. Writings of JelFers p.9. 

t The progenitor of the Randolphs ol Virginia, was 
William of Yorkshire, England, who settled at Turkey 



152 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXIII. 



ancient, wealthy and influential family, he 
was the second son of Sir John Randolph, 
knight, and Susan Beverley, his wife. Pey- 
ton Randolph being bred to the law was, 
[1756,] appointed King's Attorney for the 
colony of Virginia, and held that office for 
many years. [1766.] He was elected speak- 
er of the House of Burgesses, and [1773] a 
member of the committee of correspondence. 
[March 20th, 1774.] He was unanimously 
chosen President of the first Convention of 
Virginia, which met at Williamsburg. August 
11th of the same year, he was appointed by 
the Convention one of the delegates to the 
Congress, which assembled at Philadelphia, 
[Sept. 4, 1774,] and was unanimously elected 
President of that august body. 

Dunmore in the mean time, joined by a 

Island, on the James river. He was i nephew of Thomas 
Randolph, the Poet. William married Mary fsham, of 
Bermuda Hundred. Several of their sons were men of 
distinction: William was a member of the Council and 
Treasurer of the Colony. Ishain was a member of the 
House of Burgesses, from Goochland, 1740, and Adjutant 
General of the Colony. Richard was a member of the 
House of Burgesses, 1740, for Henrico, and succeeded Ins 
brother as Treasurer. Sir John was Speaker of the House 
of Burgesses and Attorney General. 

Peter, son of the 2nd William Randolph, was Clerk ol 
the House of Burgesses and Attorney General. Peyton, 
brother of John, was Speaker of the House of Burgesses 
and President of the first Congress held at Philadelphia 
Thomas Maun Randolph, great grandson of William, ol 
Turkey Island, was a member of the Virginia Convention, 
1775, from Goochland. Beverley Randolph was member 
of Assembly, from Cumberland, during the revolution, and 
member of the Convention that framed the Federal Con- 
stitution and of the Virginia Convention that ratified it, 
Governor of the .Stale of Virginia and Secretary of State 
of the United Slates. Robert Randolph, son of Peter; 
Richard Randolph, grandson of Peter, and David Meade 
Randolph, sons of the 2nd Richard, were cavalry officers 
in the war of the Revolution. David Meade Randolph was 

Marshal of Virginia. John Randolph, of Roanoke, was 
grandson of the 1st Richard. Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr. 
was member ol Congress, ol the Virginia Legislature and 
Governor ol the Stale. Richard Bland, Thomas Jefferson 
Theodorick Bland, Jr., Richard Henry, Arthur and Francis 
Lightfoot Lee, William Stith the Historian, ami Thomas 
Marshall, lather of the Chief Justice, were all descended 
from Randolph of Turkey Island. 

Jane Boiling, great-grand-daughter of Pocahontas, mar- 
ried Richard Randolph, ol Curies. John Randolph, S,.. 
of Roanoke, 7th child of thai mam, me, married Frances 
Bland, and John Randolph, ol Roanoke, was one of the 
children of this union. 

The members ol the numerous family of tic Randolphs, 
in several instances, adopted tin- names ol their seats for 
the purpose of distinction, as Thomas, of Tuokahoe; [sham, 
of Dungeness ; Richard, ol Curies; John, of Roanoke. 
The following were seats of the Randolphs on the James 
river: Tuckahoe, Chatsworth, Wikon, Varina, Curies, 
Bremo, Turkey Island. The cresi "I the aims of the Vir- 
ginia Randolphs is an antelope's head. 



motley band of loyalists, negroes and recruits . 
from St. Augustine, in Florida, collected a 
naval force and carried on a predatory war- 
fare. At length a sloop, in the king's ser- 
vice, commanded by a Captain Squires, hap- 
pening to be wrecked near Hampton, was 
destroyed by lite inhabitants. Dunmore 
threatened to burn the town in retaliation. 
Notice of his design being sent to Williams- 
burg, a party despatched to their assistance, 
under Colonel Woodford, obliged the assail- 
ants to retreat to their vessels with some loss. 
Dunmore, [November 7th, 1775,] proclaimed 
martial law, summoned all persons capable 
of bearing arms to his standard, on penalty 
of being proclaimed traitors, and offered par- 
don to all servants and slaves who should 
join him. His lordship had now the ascen- 
dency in the country around Norfolk. The 
committee of safety despatched Woodford 
with his regiment, and two hundred minute- 
men, amounting in all to eight hundred men, 
to cross the James, at Sandy point, and go in 
pursuit of Dunmore. Col. Henry had been 
desirous to be employed in this service and 
it was said, solicited it, but the committee of 
safety refused. Henry's chagrin was aggra- 
vated by Woodford's declining, while detach- 
ed, to acknowledge his superiority in com- 
mand. The committee sustained Woodford 
in this insubordination and thus reversed the 
convention's ordinance and in effect degra- 
ded Henry, the officer of their fust choice. 
Envy was at the bottom of these proceed- 
ings. New mortifications awaited the man 
of the people. Woodford approached the 
earl of Dunmore and found that he had en- 
trenched himself on the north side of the 
Elizabeth river, at the Great Bridge. Here 
he had erected a small lorl, on an oasis sur- 
rounded by a morass, accessible on cither 
side only by a long causeway. Woodford 
encamped within cannon-shot of this post, 
in a village al the south end of the causeway, 
across which hi' threw up a breast-work. But 
being destitute of artillery, he was unable! to 
attack the fort. After a few days, Dunmore, 
hearing by a servant lad who had deserted 
from Woodford's camp, thai lus force did not 
exceed three hundred men, mustered his 
whole strength and despatched them in the 
night to the fort, with orders to force the 
breast-works early next morning, or die in 
the attempt. 



1774-76.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



153 



[December 9th, 1775.] A -little before 
sunrise, Captain Fordyce, at the head of 
sixty grenadiers of the fourteenth regiment, 
who, six abreast, led the column, advanced 
along the causeway. The alarm being given 
in Woodford's camp, a small guard at the 
breast-works began the fire ; others hastened 
from their tents and regardless of order kept 
up a heavy fire on the head of the British 
column. Fordyce though received so warm- 
ly in front, and flanked by a party posted on 
a rising ground to his right, rallied his men 
and marched up to within twenty yards of 
the breast-work, when he fell pierced with 
many bullets. His followers now retreated, 
galled by the fire of a handful of riflemen 
under Colonel Stevens, but being covered by 
the artillery of Dunmore'a fort, they were nol 
pursued. Every British grenadier was killed, 
and the whole number of the enemy's killed 
and wounded, amounted to about one hun- 
dred. Four officers were killed and one 
wounded and made prisoner. Woodford's 
troops suffered no loss. * This was the first 
scene of revolutionary bloodshed in Virginia. 
On the night following this action, the roy- 
alists evacuated their fort, and lord Dunmore 
took refuge on board of one of his vessels. 
Col. Howe, with five or six hundred North 
Carolina troops, now joined Woodford and 
assumed command of all the provincials at 
the Great Bridge. Col. Henry now saw 
Woodford, who had refused to acknowledge 
his command, submitting himself to an officer 
of no higher rank and of another colony. 

The provincials under Howe took posses- 
sion of Norfolk. Dunmore's fleet being now 
distressed for provisions, upon the arrival of 
the Liverpool man-of-war from England, a 
flag was sent on shore to enquire whether 
the inhabitants would supply his majesty's 
ship. Being answered in the negative and 
the ships in the harbor being continually an- 
noyed by a fire from the quarter of the town 
lying next the water, Dunmore determined 
to dislodge the assailants by burning it. 
Previous notice having been given to the in- 
habitants, [January 1st 1776,] a party of sail- 
ors and marines landed and sst fire to the 



* Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. 1. \>[>. 68 69. Tins 
author was with Woodford in tins expediiion. Bark, vol. 
4, p. 80. The Bland Papers, vol. 1, pp. :iS-:i!). Riuhaid 
Kidder Meade, father of Right Rev. William Meade, svaa 
present at the affair of the Great Bridge. 



nearest houses. The party was covered by 
a heavy cannonade from the Liverpool fri- 
gate, two sloo[)s of war and the governor's 
armed ship, the Dunmore. A tew were 
killed and wounded on both sides. A print- 
ing press had been removed from Norfolk 
some time before this, on board the govern- 
or's ship, and according to his bulletin, pub- 
lished after this affair, it was only intended 
to destroy that part of the*>town next the 
water. The provincials, however, strongly 
prejudiced against the place, made no at- 
tempts to arrest the flames as they spread 
from house to house. After four-fifths of 
the town were destroyed, Col. Howe, who 
had waited on the convention to urge the 
necessity of completing the destruction, re- 
turned with orders to that effect, which were 
immediately carried into execution. Thus 
fell the most populous and flourishing town 
in Virginia. Its rental, [177o,] amounted to 
$41,000 and the total loss was estimated at 
$1,300,000. 

Dunmore continued to carry on a predato- 
ry warfare on the rivers, burning houses and 
plundering plantations. The convention 
having raised six additional regiments, Con- 
gress doubtless misled by the machinations 
of a cabal, agreed to take the six new regi- 
ments of Virginia on continental establish- 
ment, thus passing by the two first, so as to 
exclude Colonel Henry from the chief com- 
mand, to which he was best entitled. The 
convention, however, interfering, the two 
older regiments were admitted into the con- 
tinental line ; but here again unrelenting 
envy procured commissions of brigadier gen- 
eral lor Colonel Howe and Colonel An- 
drew Lewis. Colonel Henry now declined 
the commission tendered him by Congress 
and resigned that which be held under tin 1 
convention. Ill treatment drove him, as it 
had driven Washington, from the army. The 
troops encamped at Williamsburg knew how 
to appreciate their loss; they immediately 
went into mourning and being under arms 
waited on him at his lodgings. In their ad- 
dress they deplored his withdrawal, which 
deprived them at once of a father and a com- 
mander, but applauded his just resentment 
at a glaring indignity. Henry closed bis 
reply in these words: — " I am unhappy to 
part with you. ' May God bless you and give 
you success and safety and make you the 



20 



154 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXIII. 



glorious instrument of saving our country." 
Henry dined on that day with the officers at 
the Raleigh tavern and in the afternoon they 
proposed to escort him out of town. The 
soldiers, however, now assembled tumult- 
ously and unwilling to serve under any other 
commander, demanded their discharge. Col. 
Henry, therefore, found it necessary to re- 
main a night longer in Williamsburg and 
visiting the barracks in company of Colo- 
nel Christian and other officers, he employ- 
ed his eloquence in allaying the commo- 
tions which had arisen. Love and admira- 
tion for Henry pervaded the whole army and 
the great body of the people. In March he 
was addressed by ninety officers at Kemp's 
Landing, at Suffolk and at Williamsburg, 
upon the indignity offered him, whose elo- 
quence had first taught them to resent op- 
pression and whose resolution had first led 
them forward to resist it. This indignity 
they attributed to envy. It seemed to them 
indeed an effort to fetter and retard in his 
upward flight the republican eagle, whose 
adventurous wing had launched into the 
storm, while others sate crouching in their 
nests mute and thunderstruck. Immediate- 
ly upon his return to Hanover, Mr. Henry was 
returned a delegate to the Convention. This 
body assembled inthecapitol at Williamsburcr, 
[6th of May, 1776.] Edmund Pendleton 
was elected president. This eminent man, 
born in Caroline county, [1741,] had over- 
come the disadvantages of a defective edu- 
cation by study and good company. In 
person he was spare, his countenance no- 
ble. With a vigorous judgment he united 
indefatigable application and thus became a 
profound lawyer and consummate states- 
man. A zealous churchman, he never lost 
his veneration for the hierarchy. His man- 
ners were graceful and dignified. As a 
speaker he was distinguished by a melodi- 
ous voice, a distinct elocution, fluency, vigor, 
urbanity and simplicity. * 

May 15th the convention unanimously 
adopted resolutions instructing the Virginia 
delegates in Congress to propo.se to thai 
body to "declare the United Colonies free 
and independent States." On the next day 
a feu de joie was fired and the Union flag of 
the American States waved from the capitol. 

* Wirt's Life "I Henrj 



June 12th, the Bill of Rights prepared by 
Mr. Jefferson, (who was at this time in Phil- 
adelphia,) was adopted and on the 29th, a 
constitution, mainly composed by George 
Mason. This gentleman, the author of the 
first written constitution in the world, was 
pre-eminent for his enlarged views, profound 
wisdom, extensive information and the pure 
simplicity of his republican principles. As 
a speaker he was earnest and impressive, but 
devoid of all rhetorical grace. 

Patrick Henry, Jr., was elected the first 
republican governor of Virginia, he receiv- 
ing 60 votes and Thomas Nelson 45. The / 
salary was fixed at .£1000 per annum. The 
first council appointed under the constitu- 
tion consisted of John Page, Dudley Digges, 
John Tayloe, John Blair, Benjamin Harri- 
son of Berkeley, Bartholomew Dandridge, 
Thomas Nelson and Charles Carter of Shir- 
ley. Mr. Nelson on account of his infirm 
old age declining the appointment, his place 
was supplied by Benjamin Harrison of Bran- 
don. [7th of June, 1776,] a resolution in 
favor of a total and immediate separation 
from Great Britain was moved in Congress 
by Richard Henry Lee * and seconded by 
John Adams. [June 28th, j a committee 
was appointed to prepare a declaration of 
independence. The members of the com- 
mittee were Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, 
Benjamin Franklin and Robert R. Livings- 
ton. Richard Henry Lee, the mover of the 
resolution, had been compelled by the ill- 
ness of Mrs. Lee to leave Congress on the 
day of the appointment of the committee. 
Mr. Lee's place was filled by Roger Sher- 
man. The declaration of independence was 
adopted, [4th of July, 1776.] It was com- 
posed mainly by Mr. Jefferson, t The Vir- I 
ginia delegates who subscribed it were 
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas 
Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nel- 
son, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee and Carter 
Braxton. 

Thomas Nelson, Jr., \ son of Hon. Wil- 



* 1 Writings of 'Jefferson, p. 10. 

\ See copy ol original draught of the Declaration, lb., 
pp. 16-22 and lac simile of I tie MS. appended to vol. -1. 

( There is preserved .it Shelly, in Gloucester county, 
Virginia, seat ol Mrs. Mann Page, a daughter of General 
Nelson, a fine portrait of him, taken while he was a stu- 
dent iit Eton, by an artist named'Chamherlin, London, 
1754. I "as informed by Mis. Page that her father never 
afterwards would consent to sit again for a portrait and that 



1774-76. 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



155 



liam Nelson, sometime President of the 
Council of Virginia, was born at York, De- 
cember 26, 1738. At the age of fifteen he 
was sent to England to be educated. [1774.] 
He entered upon public life in Virginia as 
a member of the House of Burgesses. He 
was a member of the conventions of 1774 
and 1775, and displayed extraordinary bold- 
ness in opposing the British tyranny. He 
was afterwards appointed Colonel of a Vir- 
ginia regiment. In 1775 and 1776 he was a 
member of Congress. In the summer of 
1777 ill health obliged him to resign his seat 
and return to Virginia. Here he was short- 
ly after appointed Brigadier General and 
Commander-in-chief of all the military for- 
ces of the State. His popularity was now 
unbounded. When a motion was made to 
sequester the debts due to British merchants, 
he opposed it with manly firmness. When 
the American cause seemed about to be 
overwhelmed, and Congress made an appeal 
to young men of property and influence, 
Gen. Nelson issued an animated address and 
succeeded in enlisting about seventy young 
Virginians in a volunteer corps and furnish- 
ed a number of them from his own purse. 
[1779.] He was for a short time in Congress, 
when ill health again caused him to return 
to Virginia. [1780.] When Virginia under- 



when Col. Trumbull was engaged in his piece, " The Sign- 
ers of the Declaration of Independence," intended for the 
rotunda of the Capitol ;tt Washington, Chamberlin's por- 
trait was forwarded to Trumbull, but it nol answering his 
purpose, being too youthful, he copied from Thomas Nel- 
son, son of the General, and said to be very like him. 
Mrs. Page mentioned to me us among the earliest recollec- 
tions of her childhood, her having seen Lord and Lad) 
Dunmore at the palace in Williamsburg. She remembered 
too that in 1776 she was taken into the State House in 
Philadelphia by the Hon. John Perm. Dunn;; the revolu- 
tionary war she accompanied her mother from Vorktown to 
the county ot Hanover, to avoid the enemy. The house at 
Offley, a plantation belonging to General Nelson, bei ; too 
small for the accommodation of his family, it. was found 
necessary to build an additional room, ami in the interim 
they occupied a housp, the property of Patrick Henry, at 
Scotch-town, and Mrs l\ saw him there. She was at 
school with two of Ins daughters. Thus far the remmis- 
( ences of this venerable lady. 

The first ol the Nelsons of Virginia was Thomas, son 
of Hugh and Sarah Nelson, ol Penrnh, Cumberland count) , 
England. He was born February 20, 1677, and died ( Icto- 
her 7, 17 15, aged 63. Coining from a border county, which 
had formerly belonged to Scotland, he was styled " Scotch 
Tom." lie was an importing merchant and Vorktown 
was in Ins day and lor a long time I he sea-port tow n ol Vir- 
ginia. He was falhei ol I u lion. William Ni Ison, (Prcsi 
dent,) and Thomas Nelson, (Secretary) 



took to raise two millions of dollars in aid of 
Congress, General Nelson raised a huge sum 
by pledging his own property as security. 
By this magnanimous course he brought 
upon himself enormous losses. [1781.] 
When Virginia was invaded, Gen. Nelson 
was employed in endeavoring to oppose the 
enemy. In a period of great public distress 
he succeeded Mr. Jefferson in the office of 
Governor. In providing troops and stores 
for the siege of York, Governor Nelson dis- 
played the greatest patriotism and energy. 
He was present in command of the Virgin- 
ia militia at the siege and received from 
Washington an acknowledgment of his val- 
uable services. This generous patriot, how- 
ever, did not escape the shafts of slander, 
and his noble efforts in the cause of his 
country subjected him to ingratitude and un- 
merited reproach. 

Benjamin Harrison, Jr., of Berkeley, 
was descended from ancestors who were 
among the early settlers of Virginia. His 
father was of the same name, his mother 
a daughter of Robert, (called King) Car- 
ter of Corotoman. Benjamin Harrison,' 
Jr., was educated at the College of Wil- 
liam and Mary. Long a member of the 
House of Burgesses for the county of Charles 
City, [Nov. 14, 1764,] he was one of a com- 
mittee chosen to prepare an address to the 
king, a memorial to the House of Lords and 
a remonstrance to the House of Commons, 
in opposition to the Stamp Act. [1774.] 
He was a delegate from Virginia to the first 
Continental Congress, of which his brother- 
in-law, Peyton Randolph, * was President. 
[June 10th, 1776. J As Chairman of the com- 
mittee of the whole House, Mr. Harrison in- 
troduced the resolution declaring the inde- 
pendence of the colonies, and on the 4th of 
July he reported the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, of which he was one of the sign- 
ers. He was four times returned a delegate 
to Congress from Virginia. After the expi- 
ration of his term of service in that body, he 
was elected Speaker of the Virginia House 
of Burgesses, which office he held until 1782, 
when he was chosen Governor of the State, t 

* Hi- married Elizabeth Harrison. 

t The common ancestor ol the Harrisons ol Berkley 
and of Brandon was Benjamin Harrison ol Surrey. lie 
was born in that county 1645 and died 1712. It was long 
believed by the Harrisons of \ irginia, that they ware line- 
al:)' descendi d from the eelebrau d ( !ol. John Harrison, the 
friend oi Cromwell and one ol the regicides. This opai- 



156 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXIIL 



George Wythe was born, [1726,] in Eliza- 
beth City county, Virginia, on the shores of 
the Chesapeake Bay. His father was a pru- 
dent farmer of estimable character. George 
Wythe enjoyed but limited advantages of 
school education and his early tuition was 
principally directed by his mother, and it is 
related that he acquired a knowledge of the 
Latin classics from her instructions. * Mr. 
Jefferson mentions that while young Wythe 
was studying the Greek Testament, his moth- 
er held an English one to aid him in the 
translation, f By dint of application and 
this maternal assistance, he came to be at 



ion, however, appears to be erroneous. The first of the 
family in Virginia was Lhe Hon. Benjamin Harrison, a 
member of the council in Virginia, lie lies buried in the 
yard of an old church, near Cabin Point, in t lie county ol 
Surrey. The following is his epitaph : — "Here lyeth the 
Body of the Hon. Benjamin Harrison, Esqe, who did 
Justice, loved Mercy, ami walked humbly with Ins God; 
was always loyall to his Prince and a great Benefactor to 
his Country, lie was burn in this Parish, the 20th day ol 
September, 1C45, and departed this Life the 30th day ol 
January, 1712-13." It is certain that this Benjamin Har- 
rison, born in Southwark parish, Surrey, Virginia, in 1645, 
during the civil war in England, could not be the son of 
Col. Harrison, the regicide.) He may, however, have been 
a collateral relation. That this Benjamin Harrison, of 
Surrey, was the first of the family m Virginia, is confirmed 
by some ancient wills slill preserved. He had three sous, 
of whom Benjamin, the eldest, settled at Berkley. He 
married Elizabeth, daughter of Louis Bnrwellof Glouces- 
ter, and was an eminent lawyer and sometime Speaker of 
the House of Burgesses. He died in April. 1710, aged 37, 
leaving an only son Benjamin and an only daughter Eliza- 
beth. The son Benjamin married a daughter of Robert, 
(called King) ailer of Corotoiuan, in lhe county of Lan- 
caster. Two daughters of this union were killed by the 
same (lash of lightning at Berkley. Another daughter 
married — Randolph ol Wilton. The sons of this Ben- 
jamin Harrison, and Caller his v> lie, ware Benjamin, 

signer of the Declaration of Independence ; Charles, a gen- 
eral of the Revolution; Nathaniel, Henry, Colin ami Car- 
ter H. From the last mentioned, are descended the Harri- 
sons of Cumberland. Benjamin Harrison, Jr., of Berk- 
Icy, the signer, man led a Miss Basset. Their children w ere 
Benjamin, Carter B., sometime member of Congress, and 
W illiam Henry, President of the United States, onedaught- 

er who married Randolph, ami another, who married 

■ Copeland. So far the Berkley branch of the Harrisons. 

The second son ol Benjamin Harrison ol Surrey, first 
of the family in Virginia, was Nathaniel. His eldest son 
was named Nathaniel, ami hisoulyson was Benjamin Har- 
rison, ol Brandon, one ol the council of Virginia, at the 
same tune with Benjamin Harrison, Ji , of Berkley, about 
the commencement of the Revolution. This Benjamin 

Harrison ol Brandon was falherof the present William B. 

Harrison, Esq., ol Brandon, to whom 1 am indebted foi 
most, of the foregoing particulars, relative to his ancient and 
eminent family. See 8 Hening, pp. CC and 174. 

* Win's Life of Patrick Henry, p. 65. This lad was 
communicated to Mr. Wirt by Judge Nelson, a relation of 
Mr. Wythe. 

t Writings of Jefferson, vol. 1, p. 92. 



length the most accomplished Latin and Greek 
scholar in Virginia. He pursued other stu- 
dies with a like success. His parents dying 
before he became of age and his father leav- 
ing him a competent fortune, he fell into 
idleness and dissipation. At the age of 
thirty, however he abandoned that course of 
life and devoted himself with unremitted in- 
dustry to the study of the law under Mr. 
John Lewis. Mr. Wythe in after life often 
deplored the loss of so many golden years of 
his early life. His learning, judgment, in- 
dustry and eloquence soon raised him to em- 
inence at a bar adorned by men of learning, 
ability and dignity. Early elected a mem- 
ber of the house of burgesses, he continued 
a member of it until the revolution. At the 
dawn of that event, Mr. Wythe in common 
with his pupil, Thomas Jefferson, and the 
venerable Richard Bland, assumed the bold 
ground, that the Crown was the only con- 
necting link between the Colonies and Great 
Britain. [Nov. 14th, 1164,] Mr. Wythe was 
a member of a committee of the house of 
burgesses appointed to prepare a Petition 
to the king, a Memorial to the Lords and a 
Remonstrance to the Commons on the sub- 
ject of the Stamp Act. He prepared the 
Remonstrance in conformity with his radical 
principles. It was, however, greatly modi- 
lied by the Assembly before assenting to it. 
[May, 1765,] Mr. Wythe in common with 
Nicholas, Pendleton, Randolph and Bland, 
opposed Patrick Henry's celebrated Resolu- 
tions as premature. Early in 1775, Mr. 
Wythe joined a corps of volunteers, but in 
August of that year became a member of Con- 
gress. [1776.] He signed the Declaration of 
Independence, which he had strenuously sup- 
ported in debate. He was twice married, 
first to a Miss Lewis, daughter of the gen- 
tleman under whom he had studied law ; 
second to a Miss Taliaferro. * He died 
childless. Mr. Wythe was distinguished for 
his integrity, justice, patriotism, ardent love 
of liberty and a singular disinterestedness. 
Temperance and regular habits gave him 
g I health, sweet and modest manners en- 
deared him to every one. His elocution 
was easy, Ins language chaste, his arrange- 
ment lucid. Learned, urbane, logical, he 
was not quick, but solid and profound. He 

♦ Taliaferro, (pronounced Tollivcr,) originally an Ital- 
ian family, Tagliuferro. 2 Writingsof Jefferson, pp. 44-229, 



1774-76.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



157 






was of the middle size, well-formed, his face 
manly and engaging. * 

Richard Henry Leewas born at Stratford, 
on the banks of the Potomac, January 20th, 
1732. His father was Thomas Lee ; his 
mother a daughter of Colonel Ludwell of 
Greenspring. t 

* 1 Writings of Jefferson, pp. 92-94. Sanderson's Bi- 
ography of the Signers, vol. 2, pp. 1C0-184. 

t Life of Richard Henry Lee, by his grandson of the 
same name, vol. 1, pp. 5-7. Richard Lee, first of the fami- 
ly in Virginia, great grandfather of Richard Henry, a cava- 
lier, emigrated from England to Virginia during the civil 
commotions in the tune of Charles I., and making sever. d 
voyages to the mother country, brought over with him a num- 
ber of followers, each of whom received a portion of land in 
the colony, under the title of " head-rights." He probably 
settled at first in York, for he appears as a burgess of that 
county, [1647,] 1 Heiung, p. 339. Henry Lee was a bur- 
gess of the same county, [1652,] lb., p. 370. Richard Lee 
finally ?<pt t led in Northumberland county in the Northern 
Neck. [1659.] Certain lands there being deserted by the 
Indians, were ceded to the Hon. Samuel Matthews, gov- 
ernor, "Provided that no intrenehmenl be made upon any 
preceding rights of Col. Richard Lee." lb. p. 515. Sec 
also 2 Hening, pp. 200-201. in the Life of Richard Henry 
Lee, as above referred to, it is stated that Richard Lee was 
for a long tune secretary to Sir William Berkley, governor 
of tin- colony, and that after the surrenderof Virginia to the 
Parliamentary forces, he [Lee] hired a Dutch ship and visit- 
ed the exiled Charles while at Breda, in order to ascertain 
whether in case Virginia should declare tier allegiance to 
him, he could protect her, aud that finding the prince too 
feeble to undertake it, he returned to Virginia. Tins 1 1 ad 1 1 ion 
is not confirmed by history and is probably entitled io but lit- 
tle credit. The rest of the story is, that upon Cromwell's 
death, Richard Lee, with the assistance of Sir William 
Berkley, contrived to get Charles II. proclaimed in the col- 
ony, kingof " England, France, Scotland, Ireland and Vir- 
ginia," two years before he was restored to the throne in 
England ! A tissue of monstrous fictions. 

Richard, second son ol Richard Lee, was of the king's 
council in Virginia. Thomas Lee, third son of tin; former, 
was sometime President of the council. Richard Henry 
Lee's maternal relations were conspicuous for their public 
stations. Col. Ludwell, father of Mrs. Lee, was of the 
Council, as also was a son of his. Her grandfather wis 
sometime Collector of the Customs in Virginia, (having 
succeeded tides Bland, who was executed during the re- 
bellion,) and was afterwards Governor of North Carolina. 
When about to send this sheet to the press I have received 
a copy of the will of Richard Lee, head of the family in 
\ irginia, for which I am indebted to Mrs. Susan 11. Thorn 
ton, one ot Ins descendants. This will is dated 1663. The 
following extracts are tal.cn from it: — "I Col. Richard 
Lee of Virginia and lately of Strafford Langton, in the 
county of Kssex, Esq. being bound out upon a voyage to 
Virginia aforesaid and not knowing how it may please God 
to dispose of inc in so long a voyage," &c. " First I give 
and bequeath my soul to thai good and gracious God 
that »;iic it me and to my blessed Redeemer Jesus Christ, 
assuredly trusting in and by his meritorious Death and 
Passion, to receive salvation, and mj Body to be disposed 

of whether by Sea or Land, according to the opportunity 
of the Place, not doubting but at the last day both Body 

and Soul shall be re-united ami glorified." " Also my will 
and earnest ilesne is that my good friends, [Thomas (iiil- 
filh and John Lockey merchants in England,] will with all 



His early days were passed somewhat after 
the Spartan manner. His mother, one of the 
high-toned aristocracy, confined her care to 
her daughters and her eldest son and left her 
younger sons pretty much to shift for 
themselves. * After a course of private tui- 
tion in his father's house, Richard Henry was 
sent to Wakefield Academy, Yorkshire, Eng- 
land, where he distinguished himself by his 
proficiency in his studies, particularly in the 
Latin and Greek. Having finished his course 
at this school, he travelled through England 



convenient speed, cause my wife and children, all except 
Francis if he be pleased, to be transported to Virginia 
and to provide all necessary for the voyage," &c. "To 
my wife during her life I give the Plantation [Stratford] 

whereon I now dwell, ten English servants, five N is, 

3 men and 2 women, 20 sows and corn proportionable to 
the servants. The said negroes I give to her during her 
widowhood and no longer and then presently to return to 
those of the five youngest children, also the Plantation 
Mocke Neck. Item my will and earnest desire is. thai my 
household stuff at Strafford be divided into 3 parts, two of 
which I give to my son John and bind him to give to every 
one of his brothers a bed and the other third I give to my 
wife Anna Lee. Item 1 give all my plate lo my three eld- 
est sons or the survivor or survivors of them, each 40 have 
his part delivered to him when he comes to the age of eigh- 
teen years. Item I give to my son John and his heirs for- 
ever, when he comes to the age of 18 years, all my land 
and plantation at Malhotiek, all the stock of cattle and hogs 
thereupon, also 10 Negroes, viz 5 men and five women and 

ten English servants lor their t :s, &c." He likewise 

bequeaths his Plantation Paradise and the set van ts there, 
&.c, to Richard; the Papei makers Neck and War Cap- 
lam's Neck wilh 5 Negroes and 10 English servants, &c, 
to Francis. To Ins 5 younger children, William, Hancock, 
Betsey, Anne and Charles, the Testator bequeaths a planta- 
tion including Bishop's Neck, 1000 acres of land on the Po- 
tomac aud the remainder of two plantations after the death 
of his wife, together with the residue of his estate real and 
personal. To his eldest son John he bequeaths '■ 3 Islands 
lying in the Bay of Chesapeake, the great Bed that 1 brot 
over the last year in the Duke of York and ihe furniture 
thereunto belonging." To W ilium he bequeaths his lands 
on the Maryland side. "Also my will is that goods Sllf- 
cient be set apart lor the maintenance of the gangs of 
each plantation, lor the space ol two years and all the rest 
ol the Goods to be sold to ihe best advantage and the To- 
bacco shipt Inline to .Mr. Lorkey and Mr. Griffith, " &c. 
To Francis he gives his interest being one eighth part in 

the ship Elizabeth and Mary and the ship Susan. The 
will provides a bind " foi the Letter education of John and 
Richard equally to assist the one in his travel for the at- 
tainment of a reasonable perfection in the knowled e ol 
Physick the other at the University or the Inns of Court 

u hicll he shall be most lit for." 

According to tradition the Lees of Westmoreland, Vir- 
ginia, are descended from the English family of that name, 
to which belonged the Earls of Litchfield. The English 
Lees were loyal supporters of the Stuarts. Accordingly 
Sir Henry Lee ol Ditchley is a cavaliei character in Sir 
Walter Si oil's novel of Woodstock . 

* Life of Richard Henry Lee, by his grandson of the 
same name. Vol. 1., p. 21 1. 



158 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXIII. 



and visited London. He returned when about 
nineteen years of age to his native country, 
two years after his father's death, which oc- 
curred [1750.] Young Lee's fortune ren- 
dering- it unnecessary for him to devote him- 
self to a profession, he now passed a life of 
ease, but not of idleness, for he indulged his 
taste for letters and diligently stored his mind 
with knowledge in the wide circle of theolo- 
gy, science, history, law, politics and poetry. 
[1755.] Being chosen captain of a company 
of volunteers raised in Westmoreland, he 
marched with them to Alexandria and offered 
their services to General Braddock in his ex- 
pedition against Fort Duquesne. The offer, 
however, was declined. In his 25th year Mr. 
Lee was appointed a justice of the peace and 
shortly after a burgess for his county. Natu- 
rally diffident and finding himself surrounded 
by men of extraordinary abilities, for one or 
two sessions he took no part in the debates. 
One of his early efforts was a brief but strong 
and elaborate speech in support of a resolu- 
tion, " to lay so heavy a tax on the importa- 
tion of slaves as effectually to put an end to 
that iniquitous and disgraceful traffic within 
the colony of Virginia." On this occasion 
he argued against the institution of slavery as 
a portentous evil moral and political. * When 
the defalcations of treasurer Robinson came 
to be suspected, Mr. Lee, like Patrick Henry, 
(on another occasion of the same kind,) in- 
sisted, with manly firmness, in the face of a 
proud and embittered opposition, on an in- 
vestigation of the state of the treasury. [Nov. 
1764. J When the meditated Stamp Act 
was first heard of in America, Mr. Lee, at 
the instance of a friend, wrote to Eng- 
land making application for a collector's 
office under that Act. At that time nei- 
ther he, nor as he believed, his country- 
men, had rellected at all on the real nature 
that Act. In a i'ew days, however, reflec- 
tion convinced him of its pernicious charac- 
ter and of the impropriety of his application, 
and from that time lie became, in public and 
in private, one of the most active and stren- 
uous opponents of the Stamp Act. t In this 
year he brought before the Assembly of Vir- 
ginia the subject of the declaratory Act ol 
Parliament, claiming a right to tax America, 
and he draughted the address to the king 

* Life of It. II. Lee. Vol. I, |>. 17- ID 

i Life of It. 11. Lee. Vol. 1., jjp. 31, 10-12. 



and the memorial to the commons. His 
accomplishments, learning, courtesy, pat- 
riotism, republican principles, decision of 
character and eloquence, commanded the at- 
tention of the legislature. Although a mem- 
ber at the time of the introduction of Pat- 
rick Henry's Resolutions, [1765,] Mr. Lee 
happened not to be present at the discussion, 
but he heartily concurred in their adoption. 
Shortly after the passage of those Resolutions 
Mr. Lee organized an association in West- 
moreland in furtherance of them. [1767.] 
He vigorously opposed the Act laying a duty 
on Tea and that for quartering British troops 
in the Colonies. He was now residing at 
Chantilly, * his seat on the Potomac, in West- 
moreland. [25th July, 1768.] In a letter to 
John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, Mr. Lee 
suggested, " that not only select committees 
should be appointed by all the colonies, but 
that a private correspondence should be con- 
ducted between the lovers of liberty in every 
province."! [1773.] The Virginia Assem- 
bly, (about the same time with that of Mas- 
sachusetts Bay,) appointed a committee of 
correspondence, consisting of six members, 
of whom Mr. Lee was one. t [1774.] Mr. 
Lee was a delegate from Virginia in the Con- 
gress that met at Philadelphia. Patrick Henry, 
the first who spoke in that body, was followed 
by Richard Henry Lee. Mr. Lee was an ac- 
tive and laborious member of all the leading 
committees, and he draughted the memorial 
to the people of British America. § [1775.] 
Returned again from Westmoreland to the 
Virginia Assembly; that body elected him a 
delegate to the second congress. When 
Washington was chosen commander-in-chief, 
Richard Henry Lee as chairman of the com- 
mittee, appointed for the occasion, prepared 
the commission and instructions. He served 
also on several other important committees 
and prepared tin- second address to the peo- 
ple of (heal Britain. || [May 17, 1776.] The 
Convention of Virginia passed resolutions 
instructing her delegates in congress to pro- 
pose to that body to declare the colonies iVcc 

* A few miles below Stralford. The house at Chantilly 
is now in ruins. 

t lh. p. G5. 

| l!i. 63. The suggestion was, however, claimed by Mr. 
Jefferson. 

§ This masterly document is to be found in the Life of R. 
li. Lee. Vol. I , up. 119-133. 

II lb. 143-153. 



1 



1774-76.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



159 



and independent. When those instructions 
were received at Philadelphia, the Virginia 
delegation appointed Mr. Lee to bring for- 
ward resolutions to that effect. He accord- 
ingly, June 7th, made that motion, which was 
seconded by John Adams. June 10th, Mr. 
Lee received, by express from Virginia, iniel- 
liorence of the dangerous illness of his wile. 
He therefore left Philadelphia on the 11th, 
the day on which a committee was appointed 
to draught a Declaration of independence. 
Had he remained he would have been chair- 
man of that committee, and would have been 
the author of the Declaration of Indepen-i 
dence. Shortly after the adoption of the 
Declaration, [July 8th, J Mr. Jefferson en- 
closed to Mr. Lee, in Virginia, the original ! 
draught, and also a copy of the Declaration 
as adopted by Congress. In August Mr. Lee . 
resumed his seat in congress. Richard Henry 
Lee was in person tall and well proportioned, 
his features bold and expressive, nose aqui- 
line, the contour of his face noble. He had 
lost, by an accident, the use of one of his 
hands, and was sometimes styled "the gen- j 
tleman of the silver hand;" this hand he 
kept covered with a black silk bandage, but 
leaving his thumb free. Notwithstanding 
this disadvantage his gesture was pre-emi- 
nently graceful. His voice was melodious, 
his elocution Ciceronian, his diction elegant, 
copious, easy. His eloquence flowed on in 
tranquil magnificence like the stream of his 
own Potomac, reflecting in its course the 
beautiful forms of nature. * Mr. Lee was a 
member of the Episcopal church. 

Francis Lightfoot Lee, brother of Richard 
Henry, was born, [October 14, 1734.] He 
was educated under a private tutor and in- 
herited an independent fortune. [1765.] He 
became a member of the Virginia house of 
burgesses, and continued in that body until 
1775, when the convention of Virginia re- 
turned him a member of Congress, in which 
he remained until 1779, when he re-entered 
the Assembly of Virginia, t 

Carter Braxton was born at Newington, on 
the Matapony, in King and Queen county, 
Va., [Sept. 10th, 1736.] His father, George 
Braxton, a wealthy planter, married Mary, 
daughter of Robert Carter, of the council, and, 

* Wirt's Life of Patrick Henry, p. 08. Life of R. H. 
Lee, vol. 1, pp. 219 250. 
t Encyclopaedia Americana. 



[1748,] represented the county of King and 
Queen, being colleague of John, (known as 
speaker,) Robinson. Carter Braxton was 
educated at the college of William & Mary. 
Inheriting in his youth, upon his father's 
death, a large estate, at the age of nineteen 
he married Judith, daughter of Christopher 
Robinson, of Middlesex. She dying, [1757,] 
Mr. Braxton visited England, where he re- 
mained for several years* and returned [1760.] 
[1761.] He married Elizabeth, eldest daugh- 
ter of Richard Corbin, of Laneville. During 
his first marriage, he built an elegant man- 
sion at Elsin Green, on the Pamunkey, and 
afterwards another at Chericoke, on the same 
river. He lived in a style of generous and 
i costly hospitality, according to the fashion of 
'that day. [1761.] He was a member of the 
House of Burgesses from the county of King 
William, and took an active part in the ses- 
sion of 1765.1 [1769.] He was a dele- 
gate in the assembly from the same county 
and was a signer of the non-importation 
agreement. He was a member of the Vir- 
jginia convention, [1774.] [1775.] When 
Patrick Henry, at the head of 150 volun- 
teers, had advanced to Doncastle's, within 
16 miles of Williamsburg, for the purpose of 
recovering the gunpowder, removed by Lord 
Dunmore, Mr. Braxton repaired to Henry's 
head-quarters and interposed his efforts to 
prevent extremities. Finding that Henry 
would not disband without receiving the pow- 
der or compensation for it, Mr. Braxton re- 
turned to Williamsburg and procured from 
his father-in-law, Corbin, the deputy receiver 
general, the amount demanded, and deliver- 
ing it to Henry, succeeded in warding off 
the threatened blow. In this pacific course 
Mr. Braxton coincided with the moderate 
councils of Pendleton, Nicholas and Peyton 
Randolph. In this year Mr. Braxton was an 
active member ofthe assembly and of the con- 
vention that met al Richmond. He was one of 
the committee of safety. [Dec. 15.] He was 
elected a delegate to congress in the place of 
Peyton Randolph, and he was a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence. [June 1776.] 
The convention having reduced the number 
of delegates in Congress from seven to five, 

* A diary which he kept during this period is still pre- 
set veil by his descendants. 

f His colleague was Bernard Moore of Chelsea, son-in- 
law of Gov. Spots wood. 



160 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXIV. ) 



Mr. Harrison and Mr. Braxton were not re- 
elected. According to Girardin, * " Mr. 
Braxton's Address on Government was not uni- 
versally relished and his popularity had been 
in some degree impaired by persons whose po- 
litical indiscretions, though beyond his con- 
trol, fatally re-acted against him." He was, 
however, about this time returned by the 
county of King William a member of the 
convention, and if he had fallen under a cloud 
of suspicion, it appears to have been soon 
dispersed, for, [Oct. 12th, 1776,] the thanks 
of the convention were unanimously return- 
ed to Thomas Jefferson and Carter Braxton, 
for their ability, diligence, and integrity, as 
delegates in Congress, t 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

1776—1781. 

Dunmore; Miscellaneous Affairs; Clarke Captures St. 
Vincennes ; The Convention Troops ; Arrival of British 
Squadron in Hampton Roads; Suffolk Burnt; Battle of 
King's Mountain; Arnold Invades Virginia; Arrival of 
Phillips ; Petersburg taken ; Devastations of the Enemy ; 
Phillips proceeds down James River; Returns to Pe- 
tersburg; His Death; Succeeded by Arnold; Suncoe. 

Dunmore, pressed for provisions, burnt his 
intrenchments near the ruins of Norfolk and 
sought refuge on board of his fleet. Major 
General Charles Lee took energetic measures 
for curbing the disaffected in the lower coun- 
try. His orders were carried into effect by 
Col. Woodford, who, in this affair, displayed 
vigor tempered with humanity. Dunmore, 
with his fleet left Hampton Roads about the 
first of June and intrenched himself on 
Gvvynn's island, in the Chesapeake Bay, to 
the East of Matthews county. [July 9thJ he 
was attacked by a party of Virginians under 
Brigadier General Andrew Lewis and forced 
to abandon the island. Shortly afterwards 
despatching the remnant of his followers to 
Florida and the West Indies, he retired to the 
North and thence returned to England, where 
he continued to exhibit himself an active, un- 
tiring opponent of A merica. 

[July 3, 1775.] Washington assumed the 

* Sec Burk's History of Virginia. 

+ Biography of Signers of Declaration of Independence. 
Vol. vi, pp. 177-207. 



command of the American army, consisting 
of 14,500 men, encamped near Boston, and 
made his head-quarters at Cambridge. The 
British army, blocked up on the land side re- 
mained inactive in Boston until March, when 
Sir William Howe, who had succeeded Gen- 
eral Gage, evacuated that city and sailed for 
Halifax. In the meantime Canada being in- 
vaded and Montgomery having reduced St. 
Johns, Fort Chamblee and Montreal, united 
his force with that under Arnold and fell in 
a gallant but unsuccessful attack upon Que- 
bec. Reinforcements of American troops 
were sent to Canada, but owing to their in- 
sufficiency in number and in discipline, the 
rigOr of the climate and the activity of Gen- 
eral Carleton, the British commander, the ex- 
pedition proved fruitless, and it was found ne- 
cessary to evacuate that country. 

Upon the evacuation of Boston the Ameri- 
can army proceeded to New York. Early in 
July, 1776, Sir William Howe with his army 
landed on Staten Island. The command of 
the fleet was under Lord Howe, brother of 
Sir William, and these two were constituted 
commissioners for restoring peace. The 
British army being re-inforced, in August 
amounted to 24,000 men. The American 
army numbered 27,000, of whom, however, 
many were undisciplined and a fourth part 
sick. [August 27.] In the battle of Long 
Island, the American army, inferior in num- 
ber to the British, and without cavalry, was 
defeated with a heavy loss, variously esti- 
mated. Among the prisoners was General 
Sullivan. The British loss was not inconsid- 
erable. From the commencement of the 
battle on the morning of the 27th till the 
morning of the 29th Washington inner slept, 
and was almost constantly on horseback, 
'fhe disastrous result of this action cast a 
gloom over the cause of independence and 
damped the ardor of the American troops. 
The militia, in large numbers, quit the camp 
and went home, insubordination prevailed 
and Washington was obliged to confess his 
" want of confidence in the generality of the 
troops." He urged upon Congress the ne- 
cessity of a permanent army. [September 
15, 1776.] Washington was compelled to 
evacuate New York with the loss of all his 
heavy artillery and a large part of his stores. 
General Howe took possession of the city.* 

» 1. Marshall's Life of Washington, pp. 81-103. 



1776-81.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



161 



In a skirmish, on Haerlem Heights, a de- 
tachment of the third Virginia regiment, 
(which had arrived on the preceding day,) 
formed the advanced party in the attack. 
Major Leitch, while intrepidly leading them 
on, fell mortally wounded. In accordance 
with Washington's solicitation, congress took 
some measures to put the army on a better 
footing. Washington to obviate the move- 
ments of the enemy, moved his army up the 
North River. [October 25, 1776, J occurred 
the battle of White Plains, warmly contested 
with equal loss and without conclusive re- 
sult. [Nov. 16th.] Fort Washington was 
stormed by the British, and the garrison, con- 
sisting of upwards of 2,600 men, were made 
prisoners. The loss of the enemy was 800. 
Early in December, Washington finding bis 
army reduced to 4000 men, retreated across 
Jersey. Upon reaching the Delaware, his 
number was reduced to 3000, badly armed, 
half naked and destitute of supplies. They ' 
were followed by a British army, numerous, 
well-appointed, and victorious. Gen. Charles 
Lee was surprised and made prisoner. The 
spirit of disa flection, prevailing in the coun- 
try, was added to render the American cause 
still more hopeless. This was a dark period 
of the Revolution. [Dec. 20, 1776.] Wash- 
ington's army, on the west bank of the Dela- 
ware, increased by re-inforcements, amount- 
ed to 7000 effectives. In a few days, how- 
ever, all of them, except about 1,500 men, 
were about to be dissolved. In the gloom that 
overspread the country, Washington became 
convinced that some bold enterprise was ne- 
cessary, and he resolved to strike at the posts 
of the enemy, who had retired into winter 
quarters. Crossing the Delaware in a night 
of extreme cold, he surprised a body of Hes- 
sians at Trenton, on the morning of the 26th, 
and made 1,000 prisoners. Lieut. Monroe, 
afterwards President of the United States, 
was wounded in this affair. Lieut. Colonel 
Baylor, of Virginia, Washington's aid, car- 
rying the intelligence of this success to Con- 
gress, was presented with a horse caparisoned 
forservice and was recommended for promo- 
tion. At Princeton, another corps was routed 
with heavy loss, but the joy of the Ameri- 
cans was mingled with grief for the loss of 
the brave and virtuous General Mercer. 

During this year died Richard Bland, a 
man of extraordinary intellectual calibre, of 



a finished education, and of indefatigable 
habits of application. Thoroughly versed in 
the charters, laws and history of the colony, 
he was styled the Virginia Antiquary. He 
was a politician of the first rank, a profound 
logician and the first writer in the colony. 
His letter to the clergy of Virginia, published 
1760, and that on the rights of the colonies, 
published 1766, are monuments of his pat- 
riotism, his learning, and of the vigor of his 
understanding. In debate he was an un- 
graceful speaker. * It is said that he was 
pronounced by Mr. Jefferson "the wisest 
man south of the James river." He resided 
at Jordan's Point, his seat on James river, in 
the county of Prince George. His portrait 
and that of his wife were mutilated by British 
soldiers during the revolutionary war. 

The Cherokees, instigated by the English, 
having made bloody incursions on the fron- 
tier of Virginia, Col. Christian marching 
with a body of troops burnt their towns and 
compelled them to sue for peace. [October 
7th, 1776,] the Assembly of Virginia met for 
the first time since the commencement of the 
Revolution. Edmund Pendleton was chosen 
Speaker of the house of delegates and Ar- 
chibald Carey of the Senate. The Presby- 
tery of Hanover presented to the Assembly 
a Memorial praying that religious freedom 
should be secured to dissenters. The Me- 
morialists pledged themselves that nothing 
in their power should be wanting to give 
success to the common cause. In the fron- 
tier counties, containing one fifth of the in- 
habitants of Virginia, the dissenters, who 
constituted almost the entire population, 
were yet obliged to contribute to the sup- 

* Wirt's Life of Patrick Henry, p. 64. The Blandsof Va. 
derive their name from Bland a place in Westmoreland or 
Cumberland, England. William de Bland flourished in the 
reign of Edward III., and did «ood service in the wars, 
which that king carried on in France, in company ol John, 
of Gaunt, Earl of Richmond Thomas de Bland obtained 
a pardon from Richard II., for the death ol a person shun 
in a duel, by the intercession ol Ins Iriend, the Duke of 
Guyenne and Lancaster, (ides island, collector of the 
customs for James river, a partisan ol Bacon, vi a^ executed 
during the rebellion. Edmund Bland, a merchant in Spain, 
[1643,] removed to Virginia, and settled at Kimages, 
in Charles Cily county. Theodorick Bland, who sett led at 
Westover, [1654,] and Giles Bland, who was executed in 
the time ol Bacon's Rebellion, have been mentioned in a 
preceding part ol this work. This Theodorick left three 
sons, of whom the second was born al Berkley, [1665.] 
• ml wife was Elizabeth, daughter ol Colonel Wil- 
liam Randolph, ol Turkey Island, and then eldest son was 
Richard, afterwards member of the old congress. 



21 



162 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXIV. 



port of the church as established. A con- 
siderable portion of the inhabitants of the 
other parts of the colony labored under the 
same disadvantage. " Certain it is, [say the 
Memorialists,] that every argument for civil 
liberty gains additional strength when ap- 
plied to liberty in the concerns of religion ; 
and there is no argument in favor of estab- 
lishing the Christian religion, but what may 
be pleaded with equal propriety for estab- 
lishing the tenets of Mahomed, by those 
who believe the Alcoran ; or if this be not 
true, it is at least impossible for the magis- 
trate to adjudge the right of preference 
among the various sects that profess the 
Christian faith, without erecting a chair of 
infallibility, which would lead us back to 
the church of Rome." Religious establish- 
ments, (they contended,) are injurious to the 
temporal interests of any community. The 
more early settlement of Virginia and her 
natural advantages would have attracted hith- 
er multitudes of industrious and useful mem- 
bers of society, but they had cither remained 
in their place of nativity, or preferred worse 
civil governments and a more barren soil, 
where they might enjoy the rights of con- 
science more fully. Nor did religion need 
the aid of an establishment. On the con- 
trary, as her weapons are spiritual, Christi- 
anity would flourish in the greatest purity 
when left to her native excellence, and the 
duty which we owe our Creator can only be 
directed by reason and conviction. The As- 
sembly passed an act exempting Dissenters 
from contributions for the support of the es- 
tablished church and submitting to the peo- 
ple the question whether a genera! assess- 
ment should be levied for the support of re- 
ligion. * 

Thomas Jefferson, Edmund Pendleton, 
George Wythe, George Mason and Thomas 
Ludwell Lee were appointed a committee to 
revise the State Laws. By the resignation 
of Mr. Mason and the death of Mr. Lee, the 
duty devolved on the other three. An act 
of great consequence, framed by Mr. Jeffer- 
son, for docking entails, was passed. The 
Virginia Assembly met, [May 5th, 1777.] 
George Wythe, pupil and friend of Jefferson, 
was made Speaker of the lower house. The 

* Evan, an.] Lit. Mag., v., I 9, pp . 30 33, The Hanover 
Presbytery in 11" present! '■ » Memorial against the As- 
sess mini . 



oath of allegiance was prescribed, a loan 
office established and acts passed to support 
the credit of the continental and state paper 
currency. Benjamin Harrison, George Ma- 
son, Joseph Jones, Francis Lightfoot Lee 
and John Harrison were elected delegates to 
Congress, Richard Henry Lee being left out. 
[June 5th.] On account of his health and 
for the purpose of meeting certain charges 
circulated against his character as a patriot, 
Mr. Lee returned home. Having recently 
been elected to the Assembly from West- 
more land, he repaired to Richmond and de- 
manded an enquiry into his public conduct. 
After a full investigation and a defence so 
graceful and so eloquent as to extort admi- 
ration even from his enemies, he was hon- 
orably acquitted and the thanks of the legis- 
lature were returned to him for his fidelity, 
zeal and patriotism, by the venerable Speak- 
er George Wythe. * 

[July, 1777.] Sir William Howe sailed 
from New York and entering the Chesa- 
peake Bay, proceeded up Elk river, where, 
[August 25th,] he landed his army consist- 
ing of 18,000 men. The American Army, 
numbering nearly 15,000 men, of whom, 
however, there were not more than 11,000 
effectives, marched about the same time 
towards the Brandvwine. In the Battle of 
Brandy wine, which took place [September 
11th, 1777,] Sir William Howe proved vic- 
torious. The action was sanguinary and 
the loss on both sides heavy. The Virginia 
brigades under Wayne and Weedon were 
among the troops that particularly distin- 
guished themselves. The 3rd Virginia regi- 
ment under command of the brave Colonel 
Marshall, (father of the Chief Justice,) suf- 
fered terribly, t Among the wounded were 
the Marquis de la Fayette and General Wood- 
ford. The enemy passed the night on the 
field of battle. September 26th the British 

* Life of Richard Henry Lee, pp. 192-196. 1 Bland pa- 
pers, pp. 5 

t This regiment, which had performed extremely severe 
duly in tin' campaign of l??(i, was placed in a wood on the 
right, and m front ol Woodford's brigade ami Stephen's di- 
vision. Though attacked l>y much superior numbers, the 
3rd Virginia legimenl maintained its position \\ ithoul losing 
an inch of ground, until both its flanks were turned, its 
ammunition nearly expended and more than half of the 
officers and one-third ol the soldiers were killed and wound- 
ed. Col. Marshall, whose horse had received two balls, 
then retired to resume ins position on the right of bis di- 
vision; hut it had already retreated. 1 Marshall's Wash- 
ing on. [•- 1 58. 



1776-S1.J 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



163 



army entered Philadelphia- October 4th oc- 
curred the battle of Germantown. Here 
again after a bloody conflict, Washington 
was compelled to retreat. The 9th Virginia 
regiment and part of the 6th were made pris- 
oners. Col. Matthews, after penetrating to 
the centre of the town with his regiment, 
was made prisoner. In December the Amer- 
ican army encamped at Valley Forge. 

In the. meantime, General Burgoyne, with 
a well appointed British army of 7,000 men, 
had advanced from Canada in order to open 
a communication between that country and 
New York and to cut oil* New England from 
the rest of the States. After capturing Ti- 
conderoga, he moved slowly towards the 
Hudson river, encountering continual ob- 
structions in his route through a wilderness 
country and harassed by the American 
troops. A strong detachment was over- 
whelmed by Starke and his brave country- 
men near Bennington. After a series of 
engagements in which he suffered a terrible 
loss, Burgoyne was at length, [17th October, 
1777,] forced to surrender his army to Gates 
at Saratoga. * In consequence of Bur- 
goyne's surrender and of the treaty by which 
the Americans had secured the alliance of 
the French, the British army (under com- 
mand of Sir Henry Clinton, who had relie- 
ved Sir William Howe,) evacuated Phil- 
adelphia, [June 18, 1778.] Crossing the Del- 
aware, they marched through Jersey for New 
York. [June 28th, 1778J occurred the bat- 
tle of Monmouth. The result was not de- 
cisive, but the Americans remained masters 
of the field, t Sir Henry Clinton occupied 



* 1. Marshall's Washington, p. 207. 

t Col. Richard Kidder Meade, father of Bishop Meade, 
of Virginia, w.is one ol Washington's aides-de-camp du- 
ring the revolutionary war. The following anecdote rela- 
tive to him, is taken from Auburey's Travels, vol. 2, pp. 402- 
404. Anburey was a lieutenant in the British army and ai 
this time a prisoner ol war in Virginia and visiting the 
lower country on parole. "On my way to this place, I 
stO|>t and slept at Tuckahoe, where I met with Colonel 
Mead, Colonel Laurens, and another officer ol General 
Washington's suite. More than once did 1 express a wish 
the General hiinsell had been of the party, to have seen 
and conversed with a character, of whom in all my travels 
through the various provinces I never heard any one speak 
disrespectfully as an individual and whose public charac- 
ter has been the admiration and astonishment of all Eu- 
rope." * * "the Colonel attributed the safety ol his 
person to the swiftness ol this horse, at the battle of Mon- 
mouth, having been fired at and pursued by some British 
officers, as iie was recon none ring. Upon the Colonel's men- 
tioning Una circumstance, 1L uecuiicd lo me he must have 



New York. The arrival of a French licet 
under Count D'Estaing reanimated the hopes 
of the Americans. Washington took up a 
position at White Plains on the Hudson. 
About this time Col. Baylor's regiment of 
cavalry was surprised in the nighl by a Brit- 
ish corps under General Gray. Of 104 pri- 
vates 40 were made prisoners, '27 killed or 
wounded. Col. Baylor was dangerously 
wounded and taken. During this year \ ir- 
ginia sent Gen. George Rogers Clarke in an 
expedition to the Northwest. Alter endu- 
ring extreme sufferings in marching through 
a wilderness, Clarke and his hardy followers 
captured Kaskaskias and its governor Roche- 
blave. [December 15, 1778.] Hamilton, British 
Lieut. Governor of Detroit, under Sir Guy 
Carleton, governor-in-chief, took possession 
of the post of St. Vincennes. * Here he 
fortified himself, intending in the ensuing 
spring to rally his Indian confederates — to 
attack Kaskaskias, then in possession of Col. 
Clarke, and to proceed up the Ohio to Fort 
Pitt, sweeping Kentucky in his way, and 
finally overrunning all West Augusta. This 
expedition was ordered by Sir Guy Carleton. 
Clarke's position was too remote for succor, 
and his force too small to withstand a siege. 
Nevertheless he prepared to make the best 
possible defence. At this juncture, however, 
a Spanish merchant brought intelligence, 
that Hamilton had, by detaching his Indian 
allies, reduced the strength of his garrison to 
80 men with a few cannon. Clarke imme- 
diately despatched a small armed galley with 
orders to force her way, and station herself 
a few miles below the enemy. In the mean- 
time, [Feb. 7th, 1779J he marched with 130 
men upon St. Vincennes. t During his march 
many of the inhabitants of the country joined 
the expedition ; the rest garrisoned (he (owns. 
Impeded by rain and high waters, Clarke's 



been the person that Sir Henry Clinton's Aid-de-Camp 
had fired at, ami requesting to know the particular cu'Or of 
his horse, he informed me a was black, which convinced 
me it was him; when I related the circumstance ol his 
meeting Sn Henry Clinton, lie replied, he recollected in 
the course ol thai day to have met several Brili.-h officers 
and one ol them wore a star. Upon my mentioning the 
observation Sir Henry Clinton had made to ins Aid-de- 
Camp, the Colonel laughed and replied, " Had he known 
il ii.nl been the Commander-in-chief, he should have made 
;i desperate effort to ha/e taken him prison, r." 

» Now V incennes in Indiana. 

f i. Marshall's Washington, p. 284. 



164 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXIV. 



little army were occupied for 16 days in reach- 
ing the borders of the Wabash. When with- 
in nine miles of the enemy, it required five 
days to cross " the drowned lands" near that 
river, "having to wade often upwards of two 
leagues to our breast in water." But for the 
mildness of the season they must have per- 
ished. On the evening of February 23rd they 
reached dry land and came unperceived with- 
in sight of the enemy. An attack being 
made at 7 o'clock in the same evening, the 
inhabitants of St. Vincennes gladly sur- 
rendered it and assisted in besieging Hamil- 
ton, who held out in the fort. [Feb. 24th. J 
He surrendered the garrison. Clarke shortly 
afterwards despatching some armed boats up 
the Wabash, captured a British convoy in- 
cluding 40 prisoners and =£10,000 worth of 
goods and stores. Hamilton, with some offi- 
cers and a few privates, was sent to the Gov- 
ernor of Virginia at Williamsburg. * Colo- 
nel Shelby about this time attacking the 
Cherokees who had taken up the tomahawk, 
killed six, burnt eleven towns and 20,000 
bushels of corn and captured £25, 000 worth 
of goods, t 

[October 1778.] Washington, in compli- 
ance with the resolutions of congress, ordered 
the removal of the convention troops of Sar- 
atoga, then quartered at Cambridge and Rut- 
land, in Massachusetts, to Charlottesville in 
the county of Albemarle in Virginia, t Gen. 
Burgoyne had sailed for England in May, 
and from that time the command of the Brit- 
ish troops of convention had devolved upon 
Gen. Phillips. Col. Bland, with an escort, 
conducted the prisoners of war to Virginia. 
Upon their arrival they suffered man) priva- 
tions, being billeted in block-houses, without 
windows or doors, and poorly defended from 
the cold of an uncommonly rigorous winter. 
But in a short time they constructed better 
habitations, and the barracks assumed the 
appearance of a neat little town. In the rear 
of each house they had trim gardens and en- 
closed places for poultry. The officers were 



* 1. Writings of Jefferson, pp. 451-453. 

+ ll». p. 163. 

[ Writings ol Washington, veil, vi, pp. 93,94,96, 106, 122. 
[Jan. 1778.] Congress, whether from distiust in the Brit- 
ish prisoners or from reasons ol state, resolved no1 i" com- 
ply with the article ol the Saratoga Convent allowing 

the prisoners to embark foi England on parole, until the 
Convention should be ratified by tin- English government. 

1. Marshall's Washington, p. 232. 



allowed upon giving parole to provide for 
themselves lodging places within a circuit of 
a hundred miles. Mr. Jefferson exhibited a 
liberal hospitality towards the captives, and 
Governor Henry afforded them every humane 
indulgence in his power. The amiable dis- 
position of Col. Bland, who commanded the 
guard placed over the Convention troops, 
still further ensured their quiet and comfort. 
General Phillips occupied Blenheim, a seat 
of Col. Carter's ; General de Riedesel, with 
his family, resided at Colle, seat of Mr. Maz- 
zei. The baroness de Riedesel, whose ro- 
mantic sufferings at Saratoga are so well 
known, has given an entertaining account of 
her sojourn at Colle, in her letters. Char- 
lottesville, at this period, consisted of a court- 
house, a tavern and about a dozen dwelling 
houses. * In 1779 congress was convulsed 
by dissensions. Some of the members were 
suspected of treasonable designs, the paper 
currency was miserably depreciated, specu- 
lation raged, dishonesty and corruption prey- 
ed upon the public misfortunes, the demor- 
alizing effects of war were manifested and a 
languor in the cause of independence seemed 
everywhere to prevail. Washington deemed 
this. a more gloomy period than any that had 
preceded it. In a letter written at this time 
to a friend he exclaims, " where are our men 
of abilities ? why do they not come forth to 
save their country? Let this voice, my dear 
sir, call upon you, Jefferson and others." 

Until 1779 the British arms had been chiefly 
directed against the Middle and Northern 
Slates, hut they were now turned against the 
South. Georgia soon fell a prey to the 
enemy and South Carolina was invaded. 
[May 1779.] A British squadron, under Sir 
George ('oilier, anchored in Hampton roads, 
and General Matthews took possession of 
Portsmouth. The enemy destroyed the pub- 
lic stores at Gosport and Norfolk, burnt Suf- 
folk and destroyed upwards of 100 vessels. 
Upon the approach of b'00 British infantry 
upon Suffolk, the militia and greater part of 
the inhabitants lied. Few could save their 
effects; some who remained for that purpose 
were made prisoners. The enemy fired the 
town and nearly the whole of it was destroy- 

* Bnrk, iv. p. •).">.'). Bland Papers, 1, 116 et srq. An- 
burey's Travels, '.', 316 and 342 where may lie seen an en- 
gravingof the en< ampment ol' the Convention army. The 
town was then styled Charlotteville. 



1776-81.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



165 



ed. Hundreds of barrels of tar, pitch, tur- 
pentine and rum lay on the wharves. The 
heads of the barrels being staved, and their 
contents, which flowed in a commingled 
mass, catching the blaze, descended to the 
river like torrents of volcanic lava. The wind 
blowing violently, the flaming mass floated to 
the opposite shore in splendid conflagration 
and there set on fire the dry grass of an ex- 
tensive marsh. This broad sheet of fire, the 
crackling flames of the town, the smoke the 
explosion of gunpowder in the magazines, 
projecting ignited timber like meteors in the 
air, presented altogether an awful spectacle 
of the horrors of civil war. * The enemy 
shortly afterwards, laden with plunder, em- 
barked for New York. 

While Sir Henry Clinton was encamped 
near Haerlem, and Washington in the High- 
lands on the Hudson, [Aug. 18, 1779,] Major 
Lee of Virginia surprised, in the night, a 
British post at Powles Hook, a point on the 
west bank of the Hudson, and opposite the 
town of New York and with a loss of two 
killed and three wounded made 159 prison- 
ers including three officers. Shortly after 
this afl'air, a fleet, under Admiral Arbuthnot, 
arrived at New York with reinforcements for 
Sir Henry Clinton. Not long after, Count 
D'Estaing returned to the southern coast of 
America with a fleet of twenty-two ships of the 
line, eleven frigates, and having on board 
6,000 soldiers. The Count arrived so sud- 
denly, that the British ship Experiment of 
fifty guns and three frigates iell into his hands. 
In September, Savannah, occupied by a Brit- 
ish force, under General Prevost, was be- 
sieged by 3,500 French and 1,000 Ameri- 
cans, commanded by D'Estaing and Lin- 
coln. [October 9th,] in an ineffectual effort 
to storm the post, the French lost about 700 
in killed and wounded, and the Americans 
241, while the loss of the enemy was only 
fifty-five. The sie«-e was now raised, and 
D'Estaing, who had been wounded in tin; 
action, sailed again for the West. Indies after 
this second abortive attempt to aid the cause 
of independence. The condition ofthe South 
was now more gloomy than ever. Sir Henry 
Clinton, towards the close of 1779, embarked 
with a large force in Arbuthnot's Heel and 
sailed for South Carolina. In April Sir Henry 
laid siege to Charleston and General Lincoln, 

* IV. Burk, p. 337. 



after an obstinate defence, was compelled 
to capitulate, [May 12, 1780.] The loss was 
about equal and not heavy. The number of 
continental troops surrendered was 1,977, of 
whom 500 were in the hospital. * Shortly 
after this disaster Colonel Buford's regiment 
was cut to pieces by Tarleton, 113 being 
killed, 150 wounded, and 5',] made prisoners. 
The British loss was 5 killed, 14 wounded. 
Georgia and South Carolina now succumbed 
to the enemy. 

[June 1780.] General Gates was appointed 
to the command in the South. Having col- 
lected an army principally militia, he march- 
ed against the British forces posted at Cam- 
den, in South Carolina, and under command 
of Lord Cornwallis. While Gates was mov- 
ing from Clermont towards Camden, in the 
night, [Aug. 16, 1780,] Cornwallis marched 
out with a view of attacking the American 
army at Clermont. Thus the two armies met 
unexpectedly. At the first onset the Ameri- 
can line was thrown into disorder. A body 
of light infantry, and in particular a corps 
under command of Colonel Porterfield of 
Virginia, maintained their ground with un- 
daunted constancy. This brave olficer re- 
fusing to give way, fell mortally wounded. 
The battle was resumed in the morning. 
Upon the approach of the enemy firing and 
shouting, the Virginia brigade of militia, un- 
der General Stevens, threw down their arms 
ingloriously and in spite of the efforts of their 
commander fled from the field. Their exam- 
ple was quickly followed by the North Caro- 
lina division of militia and others. The right 
wing of continentals, under De Kalb, thus 
deserted, held their ground and fought with 
the utmost valor until overpowered by supe- 
rior numbers and charged by cavalry. De 
Kalb Iell covered with many wounds. The 
rout of the Americans was now complete, 
and after a very heavy loss the army was en- 
tirely dispersed. The American army con- 
sisted of about 3,000 men, of whom two 
thirds were regulars. The British numbered 
about 2,000, of whom 1,900 were regulars. 
Tarleton, with a strong body of cavalry, as- 
sisted Cornwallis, while Gates had only Ar- 
mantis handful of badly mounted cavalry. 
Added to this the Americans had suffered 
from a long march through hot sands and 

* 1. Marshall's Washington, p. 320. 



166 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXIV. 



from a want of provisions. Gates retired to 
Charlotte in North Carolina. 

On the ISth of August Sumpter was over- 
whelmed by Tarleton, and for a time the Brit- 
ish arms were in the ascendant throughout 
the southern provinces. Cornwallis, [1st of 
September,] detached Col. Ferguson, a gal- 
lant and expert officer, across the Wateree, 
with 110 regulars. In a short time tory re- 
cruits swelled his numbers to 1,000 and, con- 
fident of his strength, he sent a menacing 
message to the patriot leaders on the Western 
waters. The spirit of the mountaineers was 
_ aroused, and by the 30th of September 1,390 
men in arms were concentrated on the banks 
ofthe Wataga. Of these 400 were from Wash- 
ington County, Virginia, under Col. William 
Campbell, the rest from N. Carolina, under 
Shelby, Sevier, McDowell, Cleveland & Win- 
ston. Ferguson, discovering his danger, be- 
gan to retreat, and [6th of October] took up a 
strong position on King's mountain. The 
command of the patriot force was devolved 
upon Col. Campbell. It wasresolved to pursue 
Ferguson with all the men capable of such ac- 
tive service, amounting to 910. At the Cow- 
pens, where Ferguson had encamped on the 
4th, Campbell was re-inforced by 460 men, 
the greater part from South Carolina under 
Colonel Williams. At 3 o'clock in the after- 
noon of the 7th of October the troops ad- 
vanced up the mountain and surrounded the 
enemy. Ferguson defended himself with 
desperate valor and fell mortally wounded. 
Of his troops 150 were killed, the rest made 
prisoners. The patriots lost 30 killed and 
50 wounded. The gallant Williams was slain. 
About twenty ofthe tories were executed on 
the following day. Colonel Campbell, on 
this occasion, led on his men with his coat 
off. He was a native of Augusta county and 
removed early to the county of Washington. 
Fame has awarded him the title of " the hero 
of King's mountain." * 

* See account of the battle of King's mountain, by Gen. 
Joseph Grahame of North Carolina, in Foote's Sketches ol 
North Carolina. 

Dodsley's Annual Register for 1781 gives the following 
account ol Col. Ferguson . " He was perhaps the besi 
marksman living, and probably brought the art of riflle- 
shooting to its highest point of perfection, lie even in- 
vented a gun of that kind upon a new construction, which 
was said to far exceed in facility ami execution any thing 
ol tin- sorl In lore known, and lie is said to have greatly 

outdone even the American Indians in the adroitness and 
quickness of firing and loading, arid in the certainty of hit- 



In 17S0, Arthur Lee returned to America 
after a long absence. This distinguished 
patriot was born in Westmoreland county, 
Virginia, December 20th, 1740. He was 
the youngest of five brothers, all of whom 
became eminent. After passing some time 
at Eton, in England, he entered the Univer- 
sity of Edinburgh, where he took the degree 
of doctor of medicine. After travelling 
through Holland, Germany, Italy and France 
Dr. Lee returned to Virginia and commen- 
ced the practice of his profession at Williams- 
burg. Although successful, the bent of his 
genius induced him to return in a short time 
to England for the purpose of studying the 
law and fitting himself for taking a part in 
public affairs. Returning to London he as- 
sociated himself with Wilkes and other op- 
ponents of the Government and prevailed 
on them to favor the cause of the colonies. 
About this time he held an amicable discus- 
sion with Junius on American matters, sub- 
scribing his publications Junius Americanus. 
These procured him the friendship of Burke, 
Dr. Price and other popular leaders. [1770.] 
Dr. Lee was admitted to the bar. In the 
spring of 1774 he set out on a tour to France 
and Italy and while at Paris, published an 
appeal to the people of Great Britain. In 
the same year he succeeded Dr. Franklin as 
Agent of Massachusetts. The secret com- 
mittee of Congress appointed Mr. Lee their 
their London correspondent. Through the 
French embassador there, he obtained assu- 
rances of aid from France to the Colonies. 
He was afterwards made commissioner to 



ting the mark by lying on the back or belly, and in every 
other possible position of the body." * * "It has been 
reported that General Washington owed his life at the 
battle of Brandywine to tins gentleman's total ignorance of 
his person, as he had him sufficiently within reach and 
view during that action for the purpose." The Annual 
Register contains a liberal and graphic eotemporaneous ac- 
count ol the u ar. 

The following is a list of some female contributions in 
Virginia, made in aid of the war, probably m 1780. Mis. 
Sarah Cary of Scotchtown a watch-chain, cost _£7 ster- 
ling ; Mrs. Ambler five gold rings ; Mrs. Rebecca Ambler 
three gold rings; Mrs. Nicholas a diamond drop; Mis. 
Griffin, ol Dover, ten half Joes; Mrs. Gilmer five guineas ; 
Mis. Anne Ramsay, (lor Fairfax,) one half Joe, three gui- 
neas, three piM.tieeus, one bit and upwards of to, 000 dol- 
lars of paper money; Mrs. Lewis (lor Albemarle) £1,559 
8 s. paper money ; Mis. Welclon ,£39, 18s. new instead of 
£1,600 old paper money ; Mrs. Blackburn (lor Pi nice W il- 
liam) $7,506 paper money ; Mrs. Randolph, the younger of 
Chatsworth, $800; Mrs. Fitzhugh and others £658. 1. 
Writings of Jefferson, pp. ■15U-1G0. 



1776-81.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



167 



i France in conjunction with Silas Deane, to 
whom Dr. Franklin was afterwards added. 
Mr. Lee at the same time served as Agent for 
Virginia and procured from the royal arse- 
nal a large supply of warlike stores for her. 
[1777.] Congress appointed him Commis- 
sioner to Spain, where he obtained a large 
loan. Still continuing a member of the 
French Commission, he next went on a se- 
cret mission to Berlin, where he negotiated 
with Frederick successfully in behalf of the 
American colonies. During his French 
commission, Mr. Lee had exposed the pecu- 
lations of some of the subordinate agents, 
who were employed in conducting the com- 
mercial details of the public business. This 
interference gave rise to many aspersions 
upon Mr. Lee. [1780.] Resigning he re- 
turned to America and prepared to vindicate 
himself before Congress, but that body ex- 
pressed their full confidence in his patriot- 
ism. [1781.] He was elected to the assem- 
bly of Virginia and by it returned to Con- 
gress, where he continued to represent the 
State for several years. He never married.* 
During 1780, Mr. Madison took his seat in 
Congress. James Madison was born March, 
1751, (0. S.) in the county of Caroline, Vir- 
ginia, on the Rappahannock river near Port 
Royal. He was the son of James Madi- 
son, of Orange county, and Nelly Conway 
his wife. At the age of twelve James Madi- 
son was at school under Donald Robertson, 
a distinguished teacher in the neighborhood, 
and afterwards under the Rev. Thomas Mar- 
tin, the parish minister of the established 
church, who was a private tutor in his fa- 
ther's family. Young Madison was next sent 
to the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, 
of which the celebrated Dr. Witherspoon 
was then president. There Mr. Madison 
received the degree of bachelor of arts in 
the autumn of 1771. He had impaired his 
health at college by too close application. 
Nevertheless on his return to his home in 
Virginia, he assiduously pursued a systemat- 
ic course of reading. He became a mem- 
ber of the legislature of Virginia in May 
1776. It was during this session, that the 
assembly unanimously instructed the depu- 
ties of Virginia in Congress to propose the 
Declaration of Independence. Mr. Madi- 



* Encyclopaedia Americana. 



son did not enter into public debate during 
this session. At the next election, owing to 
his refusal to electioneer by treating the vo- 
ters and his diffidence, he was superseded 
by another. He was however at the ensu- 
ing session of the legislature, [1778,] ap- 
pointed a member of the Council of State. 
This place he held till 1779, when he was 
elected to Congress. While he was of the 
council, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jeffer- 
son were governors. Mr. Madison's know- 
ledge of French, (of which Governor Henry 
was ignorant,) rendered him particularly ser- 
viceable in the frequent correspondence held 
with French officers : he wrote so much for 
Governor Henry, that, (as is mentioned by 
Mr. Jefferson,) he was called "the Gover- 
nor's Secretary." Mr. Madison took his 
seat in Congress in March, 1780, and he re- 
mained a leading member until the fall of 
1783. Such was the commencement of the 
career of this illustrious man, who was des- 
tined to pass through every eminent station 
and to fill all with honor to himself and ben- 
efit to his country and to the world. As a 
writer, a debater, a statesman, a patriot, he 
was of the first rank and his name goes down 
to posterity one of the brightest of those 
that adorn the annals of his country. 

Towards the close of December, 1780, a 
hostile fleet appeared within the capes of 
the Chesapeake, with a force detached by 
Sir Henry Clinton from New York under 
command of the traitor Arnold. A frigate 
in advance having captured some small ves- 
sels, Arnold, with the aid of them, pushed 
on at once up the James River. Attempt- 
ing to land at Burwell's Ferry, (the Grove 
Landing,) his boats were beaten off by 150 
militia of Williamsburg and James city, under 
Col. Innes and General Nelson. Nelson on 
this occasion retorted a verbal defiance in 
answer to a letter, with which Arnold had 
ushered in his invasion. Leaving a frigate 
and some transports at Burwell's Ferry, Ar- 
nold proceeded, [January 4th, 1781,] up the 
river to VVestover. Here; landing a force of 
less than 800 men, t including a small party 

* In a series of replies made by Mr. Jefferson to stric- 
tures thrown out upon his conduct of affairs at tins junc- 
ture, the following is found. " Query. — W hy publish Ar- 
nold's letter without Genera] Nelson's answer ' Answer. 
Ask the printer. He got neither from the Executive." 
Iiurk's Hist, of Va , vol. 4, App., p. 13. 

f Simcoe, p. 161. 



168 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXIV. 



of badly mounted cavalry, he marched for 
Richmond at 2 o'clock, P. M. of the same 
day. Nelson in the meanwhile with a hand- 
fid of militia, badly supplied with ammuni- 
tion, had marched up the right bank of the 
James river, but had arrived too late to offer 
any opposition to the landing of the enemy. 
Arnold at one o'clock of the next day after 
he marched from Westover, entered the in- 
fant capital of Virginia, without having en- 
countered any resistance, although his route 
was very favorable for it. * Simcoe with a 
detachment proceeded a few miles beyond 
Richmond, and destroyed the Foundry, emp- 
tied the contents of the powder magazine 
over the cliffs into the James river, struck off 
the trunnions of the cannon and set fire to 
the warehouses and mills, the effect of the 
conflagration being heightened by occasion- 
al explosions of gunpowder, t Many small 
arms and a large stock of military supplies 
were likewise destroyed at this place. At 
Richmond the public stores fell a prey to the 
enemy; private property was plundered; the 
soldiers breaking into houses procured rum, 
and several buildings were burnt. Arnold 
withdrew from Richmond on the 6th, and on 
the following day encamped at Berkley and 
Westover. Simcoe in a patroling excursion 
in the night surprised a party of 150 militia 
at Charles City Court House. After some 
confused firing the militia fled, with small 
loss. Some few in attempting to escape 
were drowned in a neighboring mill-pond. 
In this skirmish, sergeant Adams, of Sim- 
coe's Rangers, was mortally wounded. Dy- 
ing shortly afterwards, he was buried at 
Westover, wrapped in some American col- 
ors taken a few days before at Hood's, t Nel- 
son reinforced at Holt's Forge by a party of 
Gloucester militia under Col. John Page, 
finding his whole force not exceeding four 
hundred men, retreated. On that very night 
the British, [January 10th,] embarked at 
Westover and dropped down the James river 
to Flower-de-Hundred. Here Simcoe was 
detached with a force to dislodge some mi- 
litia at Bland's Mills. After marching about 
two miles, the advance guard in a dense 
wood were fired on by some Americans 
posted at the forks of the road in front. The 

* Lee's Memoirs, 
t Simcoe, p. 10J. 
I lb., p. 108. 



British lost twenty men killed and wounded, 
but charging put the militia to flight. Sim- 
coe then returned. Arnold sending a de- 
tachment ashore at Hood's, a skirmish en- 
sued with 240 men in ambuscade, under the 
brave Colonel George Rogers Clarke. The 
enemy lost 17 killed and 13 wounded at the 
first fire, when Clarke being charged found 
it necessary to retreat. John Marshall, 
afterwards Chief Justice of the United 
States, was present at this affair. The 
enemy dismantled the fort at Hood's and 
carried off the heavy artillery. Nelson in 
the meantime by a forced march reached 
Williamsburg just before the enemy's fleet 
came to off Jamestown. Arnold, however, 
landed part of his forces at Cobham on the 
opposite side of the river, and marched down, 
his ships keeping pace with and occasional- 
ly reinforcing him. On the next day, [Jan- 
uary 14th,] Nelson paraded about 400 mili- 
tia at Burwell's Ferry to oppose the landing 
of the enemy. On the 14th reinforcements 
arriving augmented Nelson's force to 1,200, 
but the enemy was now beyond their reach. 
Col. Griffin and Col. Temple with a party of 
light horse had hovered near the enemy's 
lines at Westover and followed the fleet as 
it dropped down the river. In this party 
were Colonels William Nelson, Grego- 
ry Smith, Holt Richardson, Major Clai- 
borne Lincoln's aid, Majors Burwell, Rags- 
dale and others, together with a number of 
young gentlemen. * Arnold returned to 
Portsmouth without having encountered any 
serious interruption. 

Thus it happened that while the regular 
troops of Virginia were serving at adistancein 
other states, the militia, after a five years war, 
was so unarmed and undisciplined that no 
serious resistance was made to this daring 
invasion. About the time when Arnold 
reached Portsmouth, some of his artillery- 
men, foraging on the road towards the Great 
Bridge, were attacked, their wagons captured 
and their officer wounded. Simcoe, with a 
handful of yagers and rangers was detached 
for the purpose of recovering the wagons. 
Ferrying across to Herbert's Point they ad- 
vanced aboul a mile, when " an artillery-man, 
who had escaped and lay hid in the bushes, 

« MS. letter dated Rosewell, January 21, 1781, of Col. 
John Page in Theodorick Bland, Jr., in my possession. 
Shncoe, [i. 1 09. 



1776-81.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



169 



came out and informed him that Lt. Rynd 
lay not far off. Lt. Col. Simcoe found him 
dreadfully mangled and mortally wounded; 
he sent for an ox-cart from a neighboring 
farm, on which the unfortunate young gen- 
tleman was placed; the rain continued in a 
violent manner, which precluded all pursuit 
of the enemy; it now grew more tempestu- 
ous and ended in a perfect hurricane, accom- 
panied with incessant lightning. This small 
party slowly moved back towards Herbert's 
Ferry; it was with difficulty that the drivers 
and attendants on the cart could find their 
way ; the soldiers marched on with bayonets 
fixed, linked in ranks together, covering the 
road. The creaking of the waggon and the 
groans of the youth added to the horror of 
the night ; the road was no longer to be traced 
when it quitted the woods, and it was a great 
satisfaction that a flash of lightning, which 
glared among the ruins of Norfolk, disclosed 
Herbert's house. Here a boat was procured 
which conveyed the unhappy youth to the 
hospital-ship, where he died the next day." * 
Arnold, now ensconced within the fortifi- 
cations of Portsmouth, was prevented from 
planning new schemes of devastation by the 
apprehensions that he now began to enter- 
tain for his own safety. [Jan. 26th, 1781.] 
Richard Henry Lee wrote: — "but surely if 
secrecy and despatch were used, one ship of 
the line and two frigates would be the means 
of delivering Arnold and his people into our 
hands, since the strongest ship here is a forty- 
four, which covers all their operations. If I 
am rightly informed, the militia, now in arms, 
are strong enough to smother these invaders 
in a moment, if a marine force was here to 
second the land operations."! [Feb. 9th, 
1781,] a French 64 gun ship, with two frigates 
under Monsieur De Tilley, sailed for the 
Chesapeake, and arriving by the loth threat- 
ened Portsmouth. But the ship of the line 
proving too large to operate against the post, 
De Tilley, on the 19th, sailed back for Rhode 
Island. It was a great disappointment to the 
Virginians that the French admiral could not 
be persuaded to send a force competent to 
capture the traitor. Governor Jefferson of- 
fered 5,000 guineas for his head, liis anx- 
iety for his own safety was relieved by the 
arrival of a re-inforcement under General 



Phillips, [March 27, 1781.] He was an ao 
complished and able officer, but proud and 
passionate. Jefferson styled him " the proud- 
est man of the proudest nation on earth." 
Exasperated by a tedious captkity, upon his 
exchange he had been indulged by Sir Henry 
Clinton in a desire to invade Virginia and 
wreak his vengeance on a province where he 
had been so long detained, (unjustly, as he, 
not without some reason, believed,) a prisoner 
of war. Having united Arnold's force with 
his own, Phillips, left Portsmouth, [April 
18, 1781,] and on the following day the 
army landed at Burwell's ferry, from which 
the militia fled precipitately. Phillips, with 
the main body, marched upon Williamsburg, 
which he entered without any serious oppo- 
sition. Simcoe, detached with 40 cavalry, 
early next morning surprised a few artillery^ 
men at Yorktown, (the rest escaping across 
the York in a boat,) and burnt " a range of 
the rebel barracks." The British sloop, Bo- 
netta, anchored off the town. How little did 
the parties, engaged in this petty episode, 
anticipate the great events which were des- 
tined soon to make that ground classic? The 
Bonetta, too, was destined to play a part in 
the close of the drama. Phillips embarked 
at Barrett's ferry, near the mouth of the 
Chickahominy. He here issued c; the strict- 
est orders to prevent privateers, the bane and 
disgrace ofthe country which employs them." 
But these orders were disregarded. When 
off Westover he issued further orders saying : 
"A third object of the present expedition is 
to gain Petersburg for the purpose of destroy- 
ing the enemies stores at that place, and it is 
public stores alone that are intended to be 
seized." * [April 24th, 1781.] A body of 
2,500 men, under Phillips, landed at City 
Point and passed the night there. On the 
next morning they marched upon Petersburg. 
Baron Steuben, with 1,000 militia, disputed 
the entry of the town. At 2 o'clock the 
British, advanced. They were opposed by a 
party of militia posted on the heights just be- 
yond Blandlbrd, under Captain House of 
Brunswick. The enemy were twice broken 
and during two hours advanced only one 
mile. At length the Americans being flanked 
by four pieces of artillery, were compelled to 
retire over the Appomattox, taking up the 



* Simcoe, pp. 171-172. 

t Bland Papers, vol. '2, pp. .07 58. 



* Simcoe, pp. 190-194, 



22 



170 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXIV. 



bridge as soon as they had crossed it. The 
American loss was estimated at sixty, that of 
the British was not ascertained. * Lieut. Col. 
Abercrombie, who commanded the British 
infantry on this occasion, was the same who 
afterwards fell in Egypt. Phillips, taking 
possession of Petersburg, made his head- 
quarters at Bollingbrook. He destroyed a 
large quantity of tobacco and several vessels 
at Petersburg. The bridge over the Appo- 
mattox being readily repaired, Abercrombie, 
with a detachment, passed over on the 26th 
and took possession of the heights opposite 
the town. Phillips, after committing great 
devastations at Chesterfield court-house, near 
Osborne's and at Warwick and Manchester, 
proceeded down the James river as far as 
Hog Island. [May 7th.] Phillips receiving 
orders to join Lord Cornwallis returned up 
the river to Brandon, t The troops were 
landed at once there in a sale of wind. 



* Col. Banister, in Bland Papers, vol. 2, pp. 68-70, makes 
the British loss not loss than fourteen. Simeoe, pp. 195- 
198, reports the British loss at only one killed and ten 
wounded. 

John Banister was the son of an eminent botanist of 
the same name, who settled in Virginia Towards the 
close of the 17th century and devoted himself to the 
study of plants. In one of Ins botanical excursions near 
the falls of the Roanoke, he fell from a rock and was killed. 
A plant of the decandrous class, in honor of him, is called 
Banistena. As a naturalist he was esteemed not inferior 
to Bartram. 

John Banister, the son, was educated in England and bred 
to the law at the Temple in London. Before the revolution 
he was a member of the Virginia assembly, and early in 
the revolution, a deputy in the convention which met at 
Williamsburg. Burk, IV, p. 89. He was a delegate in Con- 
gress from Virginia in 1778-9, and one of the framers of the 
Articles of Confederation. 1781. He was Lieut. Colonel 
of Horse, under Brigadier General Lawson. The two 
other colonels, in the same brigade, were John Mercer, af- 
terwards Governor of Maryland, and James Monroe, sub- 
sequently president of the United States. During the in- 
vasions which Virginia was subjected to, Col. Banister was 
actively engaged in the efforts made to repel the enemy. 
Proprietor of a large estate he suffered repeated and heavy 
losses from the depredations of the British. At one time, 
it is said, that he supplied a body of troops, then on their 
way to the southward, with blankets at his own private ex- 
pense l\v resided al Battersea, near Petersburg. He 
married first, Mary, daughter of Theodorick Bland Sr., and 
second, Anne, sister of Judge Blair of the Federal Court. 
Of an excellent and well cultivated mind and refined man- 
ners, he was in private life amiable and upright, in public 
generous, patriotic, and enlightened. As a writer always 
clear, correct and easy, often elegant and vigorous— he may 
he ranked with the first of his day. A number of his let- 
ters have been published in the Bland Papers. 

t Seat of Benjamin Harrison. 



General Phillips being taken ill, found it ne- 
cessary to travel in a carriage. [May 9th.] 
Part of the troops were sent to City Point 
in boats ; the rest marched upon Petersburg. 
They arrived there late in the night and sur- 
prised a party of American officers engaged 
in collectino- boats for Lafayette to cross 
his army. For the purpose of covering a 
convoy on the way to General Greene's 
army,* [May 10th,] Lafayette, with a strong 
escort, appeared on the heights opposite 
Petersburg. The artillery under Col. Gimat 
cannonaded the enemy's quarters. Bolling- 
brook, where General Phillips lay ill, was 
so exposed to the fire, that it was found ne- 
cessary to remove him into the cellar for 
security. He died on the 13th. t He lies 
buried in the old Blandford church. Upon 
his death the command devolved on Arnold. 
He sent an officer with a flag and a letter to 
Lafayette. As soon as he saw Arnold's name 
at the foot of the letter he refused to read it, 
and told the officer that he would hold no 
intercourse whatever with Arnold, but with 
any other officer, he should be ever ready to 
interchange the civilities which the circum- 
stances of the two armies might render de- 
sirable. Washington highly approved of this 
proceeding. j Already before the death of 
General Phillips, Simeoe had been detached 
to meet Cornwallis, who was advancing from 
North Carolina. Simeoe on his route to the 
Roanoke captured, some miles to the South 
of the Nottoway river, Colonel Gee, at his 
residence, " a rebel militia officer," who re- 
fusing to give his parole, was sent prisoner 
to Major Armstrong. Another " rebel Colo- 
nel" Hicks, mistaking Simcoe's party for an 
advanced guard of Lafayette's army, was also 
made prisoner. At Hick's Ford a captain 
with thirty militia-men were taken by a ruse 
tie guerre and compelled to give their paroles. 
Simeoe on his return towards Petersburg 
met with Tarleton and his " legion clothed 
in white" at Hicks' Ford. § 



* Almond's Remembrancer for 1781, p. 108. 

t Lee 28G. Marshall in Life of Washington, Vol. 1, p. 
435, in note, has inadvertently said, that "Phillips died the 
day on which he entered Petersburg." 

t Spark's Writings of Washington, vol. 8, p. 61. 

i) Simeoe, pp. 207-208-210. 



1781.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



171 



CHAPTER XXXV. 
1781. 

Henry Lee; John Tyler; Cornwallis enters Virginia; La- 
fayette retreats; Simcoe's expedition to the Point of 
Fork ; Tarleton's expedition to Charlottesville ; Corn- 
wallis marches towards the Point of Fork ; Devastations 
of the enemy ; Lafayette reinforced by Wayne inarches 
to Albemarle old Court-House ; Cornwallis retires to 
the lower country ; Is followed by Lafayette; Skirmish 
at Spencer's plantation; Cornwallis prepares to cross 
the James near Jamestown ; Lafayette makes an unsuc- 
cessful attack Upon the enemy ; Lafayette encamps near 
West Point. 

Henry Lee was born January 29th, 1756, 
in Virginia. His family was old and res- 
pectable and his father was for many years a! 
member of the house of Burgesses of Vir- 
ginia. Henry receiving the early part of his j 
education from a private tutor at home, af- 
terwards pursued his studies at the college 
of New Jersey, under the presidency of the 
celebrated Dr. Witherspoon * and was grad- 
uated there, [1774.] in his eighteenth year. 
[1776. J When twenty years of age, on the 
nomination of Pal rick Henry, he was ap- 
pointed Captain of one of six companies of 
cavalry raised by Virginia, the whole being 
under command of Col. Tlieodorick Bland. 
[September, 1777.] The regiment joined the 
main army, where Lee by his discipline, vigi- 
lance and efficiency, soon won the confidence 
of Washington, who selected him and his 
company for a body-guard at the battle of Ger- 
mantown. While Lee lay near the British lines 
a plan was devised to cut him off. A body 
of '200 cavalry surprised him in his quarters, 
a stone house where he had with him but 
ten men. Yet with these he made a gallant 
defence and obliged the enemy to retreat, 
after having lost four men killed, together 
with several horses and an officer with three 
privates wounded. Of his own party besides 
the patrols iinl quarter-master-sergeant. who 
were made prisoners out of the house, he 
had but two wounded. Washington com- 
plimented Lee on his gallantry in this little 
affair, and Congress shortly afterwards pro- 
moled him to the rank of Major with the 
command of an independent partisan corps 

* He was our of the Pigne rs o( the Declaration ol In 
di pi i/dence. 



of horse. [July 19th, 1779.] Major Lee dis- 
tinguished himself by surprising the British 
garrison at Powles Hook, where he captur- 
ed 160 prisoners, with the loss of only two 
killed and three wounded of his own men. 
Congress in reward of this achievement, pre- 
sented him with a gold medal. Early in 
1780 Lee, now Lieutenant Colonel, with his 
legion, joined the army of the South under 
General Greene. In this General's retreat 
before Cornwallis, Lee's legion formed part 
of the rear-guard of the American army. 
During this retreat Lieutenant Colonel Lee 
charging upon Tarleton's dragoons, killed 
eighteen and made a Captain and several 
privates prisoners. After Greene had effect- 
ed his escape, he detached Lee with Colonel 
Pickens to watch the movements of Corn- 
wallis. Lee with his legion, by a stratagem, 
surprised four hundred armed loyalists under 
Colonel Pyle, of whom ninety were killed 
and many wounded. At the battle of Guil- 
ford Lee's legion distinguished itself. When 
Cornwallis retired upon Wilmington, it was 
by the advice of Lee, that General Greene 
moved at once into South Carolina. Lee de- 
tached with his legion joined the militia under 
the gallant Marion. Forts Watson, Motte 
and Granby speedily surrendered. Lee now 
joined Pickens for the purpose of attacking 
Fort Augusta, which was reduced. In the 
unfortunate assault upon Fort Ninety-Six, 
Lee was entirely successful in the part of 
the attack entrusted to his care. At the bat- 
tle of the Eutaw Springs, he contributed to 
the success of the day. 

John Tyler was born at his father's resi- 
dence about four miles from Williamsburg, 
in the county of James City, in the year 
1748. His father, whose name he bore, was 
marshal for the colony of Virginia under the 
royal government and his mother was the 
daughter of Docior Contesse of Williams- 
burg, one of the protestants driven from 
France by the Revocation of the edict of 
Nantes, and who finding a home in Virginia, 
passed here an irreproachable and useful 
life. John Tyler, younger of two sons of 
this union, (the elder of whom died young,) 
while in Williamsburg and its vicinity, en- 
joyed frequent opportunities of attending 
the debates of the House of Burgesses and 
had the good fortune to hear Patrick Henry 
in the stormy discussion on his resolutions 



172 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXV. 



of 1765. The animation with which Mr. 
Tyler in the decline of life related his recol- 
lections of that debate, proved how deep an 
impression it had made on him. He became 
a warm and decided opponent of the tyran- 
nical pretensions of the mother country, and 
avowed his opinions on this subject in so 
bold atone, that his father often predicted to 
him that sooner or later he would be execu- 
ted for high treason. Mr. Tyler studied the 
law under Mr. Nicholas, Treasurer of the 
colony. While thus engaged, he formed an 
acquaintance with Thomas Jefferson, which 
ripened into a close friendship, terminated 
only by death. The society of the ardent 
Jefferson, fanned the flame of young Tyler's 
patriotism and he became at an early day 
the advocate of the independence of the 
colonies. About the year 1774 having ob- 
tained his license, he removed to the county 
of Charles City, where he took up his 
permanent abode. Successful in the prac- 
tice of the law, he was after a brief in- 
terval elected a delegate from that coun- 
ty. He was re-elected for several years, 
his colleague for the greater part of that 
time, being Benjamin Harrison, Jr., of Berk- 
ley, whom Mr Tyler succeeded as Speaker 
of the House of Burgesses. After the lapse 
of many years Mr. Tyler's son, of the same 
name, succeeded General William Henry 
Harrison, son of Benjamin Harrison, Jr., in 
the Presidency of the Union. Mr. Tyler, 
the Revolutionary patriot, while a member 
of the Virginia assembly, contracted a close 
friendship With Patrick Henry, for whom he 
entertained an almost idolizing veneration. 
They corresponded for many years. Mr. 
Tyler participated largely in the donates of 
the assembly and on all occasions exhibited 
himself a devoted patriot and thorough-bred 
republican. In subsequent years he filled 
several eminent stations. In private life his 
virtues won esteem; in public, his talents 
and worth commanded the confidence of 
his country. 

That able commander, Cornwallis, after 
his disastrous victory of Guilford, in North 
Carolina, retreated towards the sea-coasl 
and arrived at Wilmington [April 7th, 178L] 
[April 25th,] he marched for Petersburg in 
Virginia. To facilitate the passage of the 
intervening rivers, two boats mounted on 



carriages accompanied the army. * Tarle- 
ton led the advance. While the main army 
was yet on the left bank of the Roanoke, 
Cornwallis who had passed it, upon overta- 
king Tarleton's detachment, ordered them to 
be dismounted and formed in line for the 
inspection of some of the inhabitants to en- 
able them to discover the men who had com- 
mitted some horrid outrages on the prece- 
ding evening. A sergeant and a dragoon 
being pointed out as the offenders, were re- 
manded to Halifax, condemned by a court- 
martial and executed, t His lordship was 
prompted to such acts of discipline, by his 
moderation and humanity as well by a de- 
sire to avoid any new exasperation of the 
people of the country and by a hope of al- 
luring to his standard the numerous loyalists 
of North Carolina. [May 19th, 1781.] Corn- 
wallis reached Petersburg. With the rem- 
nant of his Carolina army he now united the 
troops under Arnold, consisting of a detach- 
ment of Royal Artillery, two battalions of 
light infantry, the 76th and SOth British reg- 
iments, the Hessian regiment of Prince He- 
reditaire, Simcoe's corps of cavalry and in- 
fantry called " the Queen's Rangers," chiefly 
tories, one hundred yagers and Arnold's 
American Legion, likewise tories, the whole 
amounting to about 2,500 men, which togeth- 
er with the Carolina army, made his lord- 
ship's force at Petersburg about 4,500. The 
entire field force now under his command in 
Virginia was not less than 7,300, including 
400 dragoons and 700 or 800 mounted in- 
fantry, t He now received certain intelli- 
gence from Lord Rawdon of his defeat Of 
General Greene at Hobluck's Hill. Corn- 
wallis remained three or four days at Peters- 
burg. Light troops and spies were despatch- 
ed to discover Lafayette's position. He was 
found posted near Wilton, an old seat of 
the Randolphs, on the James river, a few 
miles below Richmond, with 1,000 regulars 
and 3,000 militia, the main body of them un- 
der command of Gen. Nelson. Lafayette 
was expecting reinforcements of militia and 
of Wayne with the Pennsylvania brigade. 
In compliance with the orders of Governor 
Jefferson, continental or regular officers were 
substituted in the higher commands of the 

* T;n leton . | 

t Idem., p '. 10. Lee, p 

! Lee, p. 288. Tarleton, p. 395. 



118 i.j 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



173 



militia. Three corps of light infantry of 250 
each and consisting of select militia marks- 
men, were placed under command of Ma- 
jors Call, Willis and Dick of the continental 
line. Lafayette's cavalry were only the rem- 
nant of Armand's corps, sixty in number, 
and a troop of volunteer dragoons under Capt. 
Carter Page, late of Baylor's regiment. # 
General Weedon not now in the service, 
owing to a diminution in the number of offi- 
cers, was requested to collect a corps of mi- 
litia to protect a manufactory of arms at 
Falmouth, opposite Fredericksburg on the 
Rappahannock. Tarleton patroled from Pe- 
tersburg as far as Warwick. Surprising near 
there 400 militia, he made fifty prisoners and 
brought them to Petersburg. In the mean- 
time General Leslie arrived at the mouth of 
the James river, with a reinforcement sent 
by Sir Henry Clinton from New York. Corn- 
wallis upon receiving intelligence of it or- 
dered Leslie to repair to Portsmouth with 
the 17th British regiment and two battalions 
of Anspach and the 43rd to join the main 
army. His lordship now proceeded with his 
forces to Macocks, (opposite Westover,) on 
the James, where being joined by the 43rd, lie 
crossed over, t The passage occupied near- 
ly three days. The horses swam by aid of 
boats, the river there heing two miles wide. $ 
" Erigadier General Arnold obtained leave to 
return to New York, where business of con- 
sequence demanded his attendance." The 
British officers had found it irksome to serve 
under him. The force of CornwaUis now 
amounted to 8,000. Lafayette hearing of this 
movement of the enemy, crossed the Chick- 
ahominy and retreated towards Fredericks- 
burg, with the view of covering the manu- 
factory of arms at Falmouth and of meeting 
Wayne. Cornvvallis pursued with celerity, 
but finding Lafayette beyond his reach gave 
out the chase § and encamped on the banks 
of the North Anna || in Hanover county. La- 
fayette who had been hotly pursued by Tarle- 
ton, retrealcd precipitately beyond Freder- 
icksburg. It was on this occasion that Corn- 
vvallis in a letter said of Lafayette, " the boy 

* Lee, i>. 287. 

t Tarleton, p. 291. Lee, p. 288. 

% Tarleton, p. 342. 

§ Lee, p. 290 

|| Several rivers in Virginia were called aftci Qui n 
Anne— the Rivanna, the Rapidan,t he Fluvanna, the North 
Anna and the South Anna. 



cannot escape me." * Comwallis now de- 
tached Simcoe with 500 men, Queen's ran- 
gers and yagers, with a three pounder, the 
cavalry amounting to one hundredt The 
object of the expedition was to destrby the 
Arsenal, lately erected ot the Point of Fork 
and the military stores there. The Point of 
Fork is the angle contained between the two 
branches of the James river, in the county 
of Fluvanna. Here during the recent pre- 
datory incursions of Phillips and Arnold, a 
State Arsenal had been established and mili= 
tary stores collected, with an especial view 
to the prosecution of the war in the Caroli- 
nas. The protection of this post had been 
entrusted to the able Prussian officer, the 
Baron Steuben. His force consisted of 600 
new levies, originally intended for the South- 1 
ern army and an equal number of militia 
under General Lawson. t Cornwallis how- 
ever informed Simcoe, that the Baron's force 
was only three or four hundred, t 



* ''All I learnt by a conversation with Mr. Bud, [land- 
lord of Bud's Ordinary in New Kent.] was, thai he had 
heen pillaged by the English, when they passed his house 
in their march [from] Westover, in pursuit of Monsieur de 
la Fayette, and m returning to Williatnsburgh, alter en- 
deavoring in vain to corrie up with him. It was compara- 
tively nothing to see their fruits, fowls and cattle curried 
away by the light troops winch formed the van-guard; the 
army collected what the van-guard had left ; even the offi- 
cers seized the rum and all kinds of provisions, without 
paying a farthing foi : In 'in ; I his hurricane, which destroyed 
every thing in its passage, was followed liy a scourge yet 
more terrible : a numerous rabble, under the title of Refit- 
gees and Loyalists, followed the army, not to assist in the 
field, but to partake of the plunder. The furniture and 
clothes of the inhabitants Were in general the sole booty 
left to satisfy their avidily; after they had emptied the 
houses, they slript the proprietors ; and Mr. Bird repeated 
with indignation, that they had taken from him by force, 
the very boots from off his legs,'' — 2 Chastellux's Travels, 
|ip. 3-7. "Mr. Tilghman, our landlord [at Hanover Court 
House,] though he lamented his misfortune in having lodg- 
ed anil boarded Lord Cornwallis and his retinue, without. 
Ins Lordship's having made bun the least recompense, 
could not yet help laughing at the fright which the tme speck- 
ed arrival of Tar let cm spread among M a considerable si lit r 

of gentlemen, who had cinne to hear the news, and weie 
assembled at the Court House. A negro on horseback 
came lull gallop to let them know i li.it Tarleton was not 
above three miles off. The resolution of retreating was 
soon taken, but the alarm w as so sudden, and the confusion 
so jiie.it, thai every one mounted the first horse he cont'd 
find, so that few of those curious gentlemen returni d upon 
their own horses." lb., p. 1 1 

f Burk's Hist, of Va., vol. 4, p. 496-497. Lee, p. 293. 

J Simcoe held 'he Karl's mil liar y intelligence in slight 
respect. Thus on page 'Jib. he says, " He had received no 
advices from Lord Cornwallis, whose general intelligence 
he knew lo 1«- w ry had." " The slightest reliance was not 
to be placed on any patrolcs from his lordship's army." 



174 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Cha*. XXXV. 



Lieutenant Spencer With twenty hussars 
formed Siincoe's advanced guard of chosen 
men mounted oil Meet horses. Simcoe cross- 
ing the South Anna pushed on with his ac- 
customed celerity, by Byrd's Ordinary tow- 
ards Napier's Ford on the Rivanna. No in- 
habitant of the country coming within view, 
escaped capture. From some of the pris- 
oners intelligence was obtained that Steu- 
ben was at the Point of Fork and in the 
act of crossing to the South side of the 
James river. The Baron adopted this mea- 
sure in consequence of intelligence of Tarle- 
ton's incursion. Within two miles of Steu- 
ben's camp, a patrol of dragoons appeared, 
was chased and taken. It consisted of a 
French officer and four of Armand's corps. 
The advanced men of Spencer's guard chang- 
ed clothes with the prisoners, for the purpose 
of attempting to surprise the Baron at the 
only house at the Point of Fork. Just as 
Simcoe was about to give the order to his 
men to lay down their knapsacks in prepa- 
ration for an engagement, the advanced 
guard brought in a prisoner, Mr. Farley, 
Baron Steuben's aid, who had mistaken them 
for the patrol which had just been captured. 
Mr. Farley assured Simcoe that " he had 
seen every man over the Fluvanna before he 
left the Point of Fork." This was confirm- 
ed by some waggoners, who with their teams 
were now taken. Siincoe's cavalry advan- 
cing, plainly saw the Baron's force on the 
opposite side. About thirty of Steuben's 
people collected on the bank where the em- 
barkation had taken place, were captured. 
Simcoe employed stratagem to persuade the 
Baron that the party was Earl Cornwallis's 
whole Army, so as to cause the arms ami 
stores that covered the opposite banks to be 
abandoned. Captain Hutchinson with the 
71st regiment clothed in red, was directed to 
approach the bunks of the Fluvanna, while 
the baggage and women halted in tin; woods, 
on the summit of a hill where they made 
the appearance of a numerous corps. The 
woods mystified their numbers and numer- 
ous camp-fires aided the deception. The 
three-pounder was carried down and one 
shot fired, by which was killed the horse 
of one of Steuben's orderly dragoons. The 
Baron was encamped on the heights on the 
opposite side, about three quarters of a mile 
back from the river. He had passed the 



Fluvanna in consequence of intelligence of 
Tarleton's incursion, which he apprehended 
was aimed at him. The river was broad and 
unfordable, and Steuben was in possession 
of all the boats. Simcoe himself was now 
in an exposed position, but his apprehen- 
sions were relieved, when the Baron's peo- 
ple were heard at night destroying their 
boats with great noise. At midnight they 
made up their camp-fires. Soon after a de- 
serter and a little drummer-boy passed over 
in a canoe and gave information that Steu- 
ben had marched off on the road by Cum- 
berland Court-House, towards North Caroli- 
na. * The drummer-boy belonged to the 
71st regiment ; he had been taken prisoner 
at the Cowpens, had enlisted in Morgan's 
army and now making his escape, hap- 
pened to be received by a picket guard which 
his own father commanded. On the follow- 
ing morning, b\ aid of some canoes, Sim- 
coe sent across the river Captain Stevenson 
with twenty light infantry and Cornet Wol- 
sey with four hussars, who carried their sad- 
dles with them. The infantry detachment 
were ordered to bring off such supplies as 
Simcoe might need and to destroy the re- 
mainder. The hussars were directed to mount 
upon such straggling horses as they could 
find and patrol in Steuben's wake. Both 
orders were successfully executed. The 
stores were destroyed and Steuben's retreat 
accelerated. Simcoe in the meantime em- 
ployed his force in constructing a raft, by 
which he might pass the Rivanna at its junc- 
tion with the South Anna. There was de- 
stroyed a large quantity of arms, the greater 
part of them, however, out of repair, togeth- 
er with ammunition and military stores. The 
quantity and value of property destroyed were 
greatly exaggerated by the enemy. Simcoe 
took away also a mortar, l\\c brass howitzers 
and four long brass nine pounders, mounted 
afterwards at Yorktowir t According to 
Siincoe's opinion, a small guard left by Steu- 
ben would have protected these stores. The 
want of military intelligence exhibited on 
tins occasion i.s what the disaster must be at- 
tributed to. 

* Simcoe, pp. 212-223. Lee, pp. 293-294. 

t Simcoe, p. '..'J:i. These may perhaps be ibe brass pie- 
ces recaptured ;it Vorktown, now to lie found at ihe A 1 1 1 1<>- 
ry al Richmond. Tarleton, Coinwallis and the historian 
Stedman, it is .-.aid, have exaggerated the American loss. 
JJuik, vol. -1, p. 498. 



1781. 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



175 



Ai the same time when Simcoe was de- 
tached, Lord Cornwallis had sent out, [Juno, 
1781,] that other distinguished partisan, 
Tarleton, with 180 cavalry, and 70 mounted 
infantry of the 23rd regiment under Cap- 
tain Champagne, with instructions to sur- 
prise the Virginia Assembly, then sitting at 
Charlottesville, to seize Mr. Jefferson at. Mon- 
ticello, near that town, and to destiny such 
stores as could be of use to the Americans. 
Tarleton moving rapidly towards Charlottes- 
ville, met with twelve wagons laden with 
clothing for the Southern army and he burnt, 
them. Learning that a number of gentle- 
men, who had escaped from the lower coun- 
try, were assembled, some at Dr. Walker's, 
the others at Mr. John Walker's, * Tarleton 
despatched Captain Kinloch, with a party, to 
Mr. John Walker's, while he proceeded with 
the rest to the doctor's mansion. Here he 
surprised Col. John Syme, a half-brother to 
Patrick Henry, and some other gentlemen, 
who were found asleep, t it being early in the 
morning. Captain Kinloch captured Francis 
Kinloch, (his relative t and a delegate to con- 
gress from South Carolina,) together with 
William and Robert Nelson, brothers to Gen- 
eral Thomas Nelson. Mr. Iouitte, one of the 
inmates, effecting his escape on a fleet horse, 
conveyed intelligence of Tarleton's approach, 
to Charlottesville, so that the greater part of 
the members of the Assembly escaped. 
Tarleton, after a delay of some hours, enter- 
ed Charlottesville. Seven Burgesses iell into 
his hands and the public stores there were 
destroyed. 

Captain McCIeod, with a troop of horse, 
visited Monticello and reached the house; a 
few moments after Mr. Jefferson had fled. 
The magnificent prospect visible there, must 
have afforded some compensation to the par- 
ty for their disappointment. While Tarle- 



* IJelvoir, about seven miles from Charlottesville, and 

• e ol the I. ilc Judge Hugh Nelson. 

t Lee, pp. 294-295. Tarleton, p. 296. It is said that as 
one of the gentlemen, who was rather en-bon-point and 
who had found tune to put on nothing but Ins breeches, ran 
across the yard in full view of the British dragoons, they 
burst into a fit of laughter at so unique and extraordinary a 
phenomenon. 

X There is a family tradition, that when this Captain 
Kinloch was about to leave England, the Ladies o! his 
family playfully begged him not to kill their cousin in Amer- 
ica, and that In; replied, "No, but 1 will be sure to take 
him prisoner" — which jocular prediction was thus fulfilled. 
See Lee, p. 295, in note. 



ton was in the neighborhood of Charlottes- 
ville, 20 British and Hessian prisoners of 

'• the Convention troops," cantoned with the 
planters, joined him. The prisoners of dis- 
tinction, Captured by Tarleton. were treated 
with lenity, being detained only a few days, 
on their parole not to escape; "lite lower 
class were secured as prisoners of war.'' * 
"The prisoners of note" were released at 
Elkhill, on their paroles. 

Earl Cornwallis, with the main army, ar- 
riving, (June 7th, | near the Point of Fork, 
Simcoe and Tarleton rejoined him. [June 
9th.] Simcoe was detached to the Seven Is- 
lands, where he destroyed 150 barrels of 
gunpowder, and burnt the tobacco in the 
ware-houses on the river side. Some militia- 
men were surprised and made prisoners, t 
The British army was now encamped alongthe 
bank of the James river, from the Point of Fork 
to Elkhill, \ a plantation of Mr. Jefferson's, 
where Cornwallis for ten days made his head- 
quarters. This plantation was utterly laid waste 
by the enemy. Wherever his lordship's army 
went, plantations were despoiled and private 
houses plundered. During the six months 
of his stay in Virginia, she lost 30,000 slaws. 
of whom the greater part died of small pox 
and camp fever, and the rest were shipped to 
the West Indies, Nova Scotia, &c. Tin? 
whole devastations committed by the British 
army, during these six months, was estima- 
ted at upwards of thirteen millions of dol- 
lars. 

Lafa vette beingjoined by Wayne's brigade, 
eight or nine hundred strong, marched at 
once towards Albemarle old Court-house, 
where some magazines remained uninjured 
by the British. Hesucceeded in saving these 
stores from tin; attempts of Tarleton. La- 
fayette, at Albemarle Court-house, was join- 
ed by Col. Campbell, the hero of King's 
Mountain, with his brave riflemen. § Corn- 
wallis now, in accordance with advices from 
Sir Henry Clinton, retired to the lower coun- 
try and was followed by Lafayette, who had 
in the meantime, above Richmond, been re- 
inforced by Steuben, with his GOO levies and 



* Tarleton, p 29 

t Simcoe, p. 223. 

X It was here, that Mr. Jefferson, when confined by an 
arm fractured by a fall from a horse, composed his " Notes 
on Virginia." 

§ Lei . i 



176 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXV. 



by the militia. Cornwallis halted for a few 
days at Richmond. Simcoe was posted at 
Westham, Tarleton at the Meadow Bridge.* 
Lafayette's army amounted now to 4,500, of 
whom one half were regulars and of these 
1,500 were veterans. He was still inferior 
to Cornwallis in numbers, by one third, and 
very deficient in cavalry.! Cornwallis leav- 
ing Richmond, [June 20th, 1781,] reached 
Williamsburg on the 25th. t Lafayette fol- 
lowed and passing Richmond, arrived at 
New Kent Court-house on the day after the 
British general had left it. Lafayette now 
took a position on Tyre's plantation, twenty 
miles from Williamsburg. Cornwallis having 
detached Simcoe, to destroy some boats and 
stores on the Chickahominy, that energetic 
and accomplished partisan performed the ser- 
vice with his accustomed promptness. La- 
fayette discovering this march of Simcoe, 
detached Col, Butler, of the Pennsylvania 
line, in quest of him*. Butler's van consist- 
ing of the rifle corps, under Majors Call and 
Willis, and the cavalry — the whole not ex- 
ceeding 120 effectives, was led by Major 
McPherson of Pennsylvania. Having mount- 
ed some infantry behind the remnant of Ar- 
mand's dragoons, he overtook Simcoe on his 
return, near Spencer's plantation, about six 
miles above Williamsburg, at the Forks of the 
roads leading to Williamsburg and James- 
town. The ground there, in Simcoe's phrase, 
was " admirably adapted to the chicanery of 
action." § The suddenness of McPherson's 
attack threw the yagers into confusion, but 
they were firmly supported by the Queen's 
Rangers. J| Call and Willis having now join- 
ed McPherson, a warm conflict ensued. 
Simcoe found occasion for all his resources. 
The advanced party of Butler's corps was re- 
pulsed and fell back in confusion upon the 
continentals, Simcoe satisfied with this ad- 
vantage, retired. Both parties claimed the 
advantage in this rencontre. The loss of the 
British was eleven killed and twenty-six 
wounded. The loss of the Americans is not 



* Tarleton, p. 300. 

f Lee, p. 299. 

% Tarleton, p. 301. 

<J> Simcoe, p. 2'J7. 

I! Trumpeter Barney gave the alarm to the Rangers, ex- 
claiming, " draw your swords Rangers, the Rebels are 
coming." Simcbe, p. 228. Barney captured a French of- 
ficer. 



reported, except that three officers and twen- 
ty-eight privates were made prisoners. The 
number of killed and wounded probably ex- 
ceeded that of the British. * Major McPher- 
son was unhorsed, but crept into a swamp 
and made his escape. Simcoe after retreat- 
ing two miles towards Williamsburg, met 
Lord Cornwallis, with the advance of his ar- 
my, coming to his relief. Coret Jones, who 
had fallen in the skirmish, was buried at Wil- 
liamsburg on the next day with military hon- 
ors. Col. Butler, the American commander 
in the action, was the same who afterwards 
fell at St. Clair's defeat, being on that occa- 
sion second in command, t 

June 28th, Cornwallis with an escort of 
cavalry, under Simcoe, visited Yorktown, for 
the purpose of examining the capabilities of 
that post. His lordship formed an unfavor- 
able opinion of it. The party was ineffec- 
tually fired at from Gloucester Point and re- 
turned on the same day to Williamsburg. 
After halting here nine days, Cornwallis, [4th 
of July,] marched and encamped near James- 
town island, for the purpose of crossing the 
James river and proceeding to Portsmouth. 
The Queen's Rangers passed over the river in 
the evening of the same day, to cover the 
baggage which was now transported. La- 
fayette, as Cornwallis had predicted, now ad- 
vanced, with the hope of striking at the rear- 
guard only of the enemy, supposing upon 
imperfect intelligence that the main body had 
already crossed to the left bank of the river. 
Accordingly about sunset, [July 6th, 1781,] 
Lafayette attacked Cornwallis and after a 
warm conflict, was compelled to retreat, hav- 
ing discovered that he was engaged by the 
main body of the British army. Of the con- 
tinental troops, 118, including ten officers, 
were killed, wounded or taken. Some can- 
non also fell into the hands of the enemy. 
The British state their loss at five officers and 
seventy privates, killed and wounded. Corn- 
wallis now crossed the James and inarched 
[9th of July] for Portsmouth. 

Lafayette re-inlbrced by some dragoons 
from Baltimore, retired to a strong position 
near West Point, at the head of York river. 
The militia had already been discharged. 



" Simcoe, pp. 227-237. He gives a plan of I he affair and 

says thai I considered ihis action ;ts the climax of a. 

campaign of five yens, p, 234 

f Lee, p. 300. 



1781.] 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



177 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 
1781. 

Cornwallis fortifies Yorktown and concentrates his forces 
there. Washington invests Yorktown. The capitula- 
tion. 

[August 2nd, 17S1.] Cornwallis occupied 
Yorktown and Gloucester Point and fortified 
them. He concentrated the whole British 
force in Virginia, at those posts, by the 22nd 
of August. Gloucester Point opposite York- 
town was held by the 80th regiment and the 
Hessian regiment of Prince Hereditaire and 
the Queen's rangers, — the whole under com- 
mand of the brave and energetic Lieutenant 
Colonel Dundas of the artillery. Tarleton 
with his cavalry afterwards passed over to 
Gloucester Point, and Dundas, during the 
siege that ensued, being ordered over to 
Yorktown, the command at Gloucester Point 
devolved on Simcoe, who being incapable of 
holding it on account of feeble health was 
succeeded by Tarleton. 

Lafayette hearing of the movements of the 
enemy now broke up his camp on the banks 
of the Pamunkey and drew nearer to York- 
town. In the meantime Washington relin- 
quishing his efforts to dislodge Sir Henry 
Clinton from New York, concerted with the 
French naval and military commanders a plan 
of operations against Cornwallis, and with 
the combined American and French armies 
marched for Virginia. August 30th, Count 
de Grasse with a fleet arrived from the West 
Indies and entered the Chesapeake Bay. 
On the 31st his advanced ships blocked up 
the mouth of the York.* [September 5th.] 
A partial engagement occurred between him 
and the English admiral Graves. On the 
10th Count de Barras joined de Grasse with 
a naval force from Rhode Island. Lafayette 
now made his head-quarters at Williamsburg. 
Washington attended by Count de Rochani- 
beau, commander-in-chief of the French army 
and the Chevalier de Chastellux, reached that 
place on the 14th, and repairing on board the 
Ville de Paris, the French admiral's ship, ar- 
ranged the plan of the siege of York. By 
the 25th, the combined army, amounting to 
12,000 men, together with 5,000 militia un- 
der General Nelson, were concentrated at 

* Simcoe, p. 'its'. 
23 



Williamsburg. [September 28th,] the allies 
advanced upon York and invested it. the 
Americans forming the right below the town, 
the French the left above it, and each extend- 
ing from the borders of the river, so as to 
hem in the town by a semicircle. General 
De Choisy invested Gloucester Point with 
3,000 men. The enemy's communication, 
by water, was entirely cut off by the French 
ships, stationed at the mouth of the York 
river. Cornwallis some time before this, find- 
ing his situation growing so critical, had 
anxiously solicited aid from Sir Henry Clin- 
ton. Aid was promised but it never arrived. 
Washington was assisted by Lincoln, Steuben, 
Lafayette, Knox, &c. The French were 
commanded by General the Count Rocham- 
beau. 

On the 29th the British commenced a can- 
nonade, and during the night abandoned some 
redoubts and retired within the town. Col. 
Alexander Scanimel while reconnoitering the 
ground just abandoned by the enemy, was 
surprised by a party of horse and after he 
had surrendered, received a wound from a 
Hessian, of which he died in a tew days, 
greatly lamented. On the 3rd of October, 
in a skirmish before Gloucester Point, Tarle- 
ton was unhorsed and narrowly escaped be- 
ing made prisoner. The British sent out 
from Yorktown a number of negroes infected 
with the small pox. On the night of the 7th, 
the first parallel was extended two miles in 
length, and within 600 yards of the British 
lines. By the evening of the 9th several bat- 
teries being completed, Washington himself 
put the match to the first gun and a heavy fire 
was opened. The cannonade continued till 
the 15th. Cornwallis was driven from Secre- 
tary Nelson's house where he had made his 
head-quarters. * A red-hot shell from a 

* Upon the breaking oul of the revolution, secretary Nel- 
son, who had been long a member <>f the Council, retired 
from public affairs, lie lived Hi Yorktown, where be had 
erected a handsome house, adorned with " a chimney-piece 
and some bas reliefs of very line marble exquisitely sculp- 
lured." Lord Cornwallis made bis head quarters in this 
house, which stood near his line of defensive works. It 
soon attracted the attention of t ho French artillery and was 
almost entirely destroyed. Secretary Nelson was in it 
when the first shot killed one of his negroes at a lillle dis- 
tance from him What increased his solicitude was that 
tie bad two sons in the American army, so thai every shot 
whether fired from the town or from the trenches might 
prove equally fatal to hitn. When a flag was sent in to 
request that he might be conveyed within the American 
lines, one of his sons was observed gazing wistfully at the 



178 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



[Chap. XXXVI. 



French battery set fire to the Charon, a Brit- 
ish 44 gun ship, and two or three smaller 
vessels, which were consumed in the night. 
The ships were wrapped in a torrent of fire, 
which ran like lightning over the rigging and 
to the tops of the masts. A second parallel 
was now completed and batteries erected 
within 300 yards of the enemy's works. The 
British had two redoubts about 300 yards in 
front of their lines and it was resolved to take 
them by assault. The one on the left of the 
enemy, bordering the banks of the river, was 
assigned to a brigade of light infantry under 
Lafayette. The advanced corps was con- 
ducted by Col. Alexander Hamilton assisted 
by Col. Gimat. The attack commenced at 
8 o'clock in the evening and the assailants 
entered the fort with the point of the bayonet, 
without firing a gun. The American loss 
was eight killed and thirty wounded. Major 
Campbell who commanded the fort was woun- 
ded and made prisoner with about thirty sol- 
diers ; the rest escaped. During the assault 
the British kept up a lire along their whole 
line. Washington, Lincoln and Knox, with 
their aids, having dismounted, stood in an 
exposed situation awaiting the result. The 
other redoubt on the right of the British was 
taken at the same time, by a detachment of 
the French, commanded by Baron de Vio- 
menil. He lost about 100 men killed and 
wounded. Of the enemy at this redoubt, eigh- 



gate of the toun. by which the aged secretary was to come 
out. Cornwallis permitted his withdrawal and he was taken 
to Washington's head quarters. Upon alighting, with a 
serene countenance he related to the French officers who 
stood around him, v\ hat. had been the effect of their batte- 
ries and how much Ins mansion had suffered from the fust 
shot. 2 (Jhaslellu.x, pp. 24-2T. 



teen were killed and forty-five captured, inclu- 
ding three officers. By this time many of the 
British guns were silenced and their works 
were becoming ruinous. About 4 o'clock 
on the morning of the 16th, Col. Abercrom- 
bie, with 400 men, made a sortie against two 
unfinished redoubts occupied by the French. 
After spiking some cannon, the British were 
driven back with a small loss on each side. 
One hundred pieces of heavy ordinance were 
now in full play against the enemy. The 
British had nearly ceased firing. On the 17th, 
Cornwallis by a flag requested a cessation of 
hostilities. On the 19th of October, 1781, 
the British forces at Yorktown and Glouces- 
ter Point were surrendered. At about 12 
o'clock, the combined army was drawn up 
along a road, in two lines, extending more 
than a mile, the Americans on the right, the 
French on the left. At the head of the Ameri- 
can line, Washington appeared on horseback 
surrounded by his aids. At the head of the 
French line was posted Count Rochambeau. 
The concourse of spectators from the coun- 
try was equal in number to the military. At 
2 o'clock the captive army advanced through 
the line formed for their reception. Corn- 
wallis pretending indisposition was not pre- 
sent. His place was filled on the occasion 
by General O'Hara. This officer mounted on 
a fine charger, made the surrender. The loss 
during the siege was, French 50 killed, 127 
wounded: Americans 27 killed, 73 wounded. 
According to Cornwallis' account, his loss 
was 156 killed, 326 wounded, 70 missing; 
total, 552. The whole number of men sur- 
rendered, 7,247 ; 75 brass, 169 iron cannon ; 
7,7!)4 muskets with stores, money and 28 
colors. 



APPENDIX. 



The followingMemoir ofthe Battle of Point 
Pleasant was composed by my uncle, the late 
Dr. Samuel L. Campbell, of Rockbridge 
county, Virginia. He married, in 1794, a 
sister of the! Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander, 
Professor in the Theological Seminary, of 
Princeton and died at an advanced age, in 
1840. During several years previous to his 
death, he was blind, and it was during this 
period, that he dictated to his children the 
following narrative. It so happened that 
when I was preparing my own manuscript of 
the "Introduction to the History ofthe Col- 
ony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia/' for 
the press, a copy of my uncle's Memoir was 
communicated to me by his son, the Rev. 
Samuel D. Campbell, and, with his consent, 
it is here published, and I am happy in hav- 
ing it in my power to lay before the reader 
so interesting a production. 

J\Iemoir of the Baffle of Point Pleasant, by 
Samuel L. Campbell, .11. D., of Rockbridge 
County, Virginia. 

The following Memoir relates to an event- 
ful period in the history of Western Virginia, 
comprising all the years from 54 to 79 ofthe 
last century. At first nothing more was con- 
templated than a short account of the cam- 
paign of 74, but on examination, that trans- 
action was found to be so intimately connec- 
ted with others, both anterior and subsequent, 
that it was judged best to give greater latitude 
to the memoir. It has been chiefly formed 
from recollections partly of some portions of 
history which the writer met with many years 
ago ; partly from the narratives of sundry 
persons, most of whom had been actors in 
the Indian wars. Resting as it does so much 
upon memory, there may be inaccuracies, and 
incidents may have been overlooked, which 
should have been noticed. But these it is 
thought will not, be of much importance, 
when it is known that the writer in want of 
sufficient materials, was unable to go much 
into detail. The memoir itself is little more 
than an outline or general view, and there- 
fore can possess little interest otherwise than 
as it excites enquiry and attracts attention to 
a subject important indeed, but hitherto neg- 
lected. The inhabitants of this country are 
very imperfectly acquainted with its history. 
This remark applies particularly to that sec- 
tion commonly called the Valley of Virginia, 



which lying along the Blue Ridge, stretches 
from the Potomac to the Alleghany mountain. 
Of this many of the inhabitants know little 
more than what they see. They see a coun- 
try possessing salubrity and fertility, yielding 
plentifully, in great variety, most of the ne- 
cessaries of life ; a country which has ad- 
vantages, conveniences and blessings, in 
abundance, in profusion, I had almost said 
in superfluity. But they know not how it 
came into tin 1 hands of the present occu- 
pants; they know not who were the first set- 
tlers, whence they came, at what time, in 
what numbers, nor what difficulties they had 
to encounter, nor what was the progress of 
population. One who would become ac- 
quaintedwith these matters, must travel back 
a century or more ; he must witness the early 
adventurers leaving the abodes of civilization 
and singly, or in families, or in groups, com- 
posed of several families, like pioneers on a 
forlorn hope, entering the dark, dreary, track- 
less forest, which had been for ages the nur- 
sery of wild-beasts and the pathway of the 
Indian. After traversing this inhospitable 
solitude for days or weeks and having be- 
come weary of their pilgrimage, they deter- 
mined to separate and each family taking its 
several course in quest of a place where they 
may rest, they find a spot such as choice, 
chance or necessity points out; here they 
sit down ; this they call their house — a cheer- 
less, houseless home. If they have a tent, 
they stretch it and in it they all nestle ; other- 
wise tin; umbrage of a wide-spreading oak, 
or, mayhap, the canopy of heaven is their 
only covering. In this new-found home, 

while they are not exempt from the common 
frailties am! ills of humanity, many peculiar 
to their present condition thicken around 
them. Here they must endure excessive la- 
bor, fatigue am! exposure to inclement ea- 
sons ; here innumerable perils and privations 
await them ; here the} are exposed to alarms 
from wild beasts and from Indians. Some- 
times driven from home they take shelter in 
the breaks and recesses of the mountains, 
where they continue for a time in a state of 
anxious suspense; venturing at length to re- 
connoitre their home, they perhaps find it a 
heap of ruins, the whole of their little pecu- 
lestroyed. This frequently happened. 



ISO 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



The inhabitants of the country being few and 
in most cases widely separated from each 
other, each group, fully occupied with its 
own difficulties and distresses, seldom could 
have the consolation of hoping for the advice, 
assistance or even sympathy of each other. 
Many of them, worn out by the hardships in- 
separable from their new condition, found 
premature graves; many hundreds, probably 
thousands, were massacred by the hands of 
the Indians, and peace and tranquillity, if it 
came at all, came at a late day to the few sur- 
vivors. 

" Tapue erat molis — condere gentem." 

Here have been stated a few items of the first 
cost of this country, but the half has not 
been told ; nor can we calculate in money 
the worth of the sufferings of these people ; 
especially we cannot estimate in dollars and 
cents the value of the lives that were lost. 
An historical account of the early settlements 
of the country is a desideratum. Much in- 
deed that might go to form such a work has 
been irrecoverably lost; much might, by care 
and industry be collected, enough, if used by 
a skilful hand, to form a work which would 
merit the public patronage. The writer must 
here acknowledge that a number of facts 
were communicated to him by two individu- 
als of Rockbridge county, of which ho has 
availed himself. These individuals were An- 
drew Reid, Esq. and William Moore, Esq. 
They were both in the campaign of 1774, and 
both in the battle of Point Pleasant, and acted 
well their several parts. Mr. Reid was known 
to have certainly killed an Indian early in the 
engagement; Mr. Moore bore from the bat- 
tle-ground a wounded soldier. Standing 
near to his fellow when the wound was given, 
at much personal risk, being in full view of 
the enemy's line, he received his wounded 
companion on his shoulders and bore him to 
the camp, there placing him under the care 
of attendants he returned to the light, in 
which both he and Mr. Reid continued until 
victory declared in favor of the white men. 
This wounded soldier was John Steel, of Au- 
gusta, who was shot quite through the chest. 
From this wound, although at first deemed 
mortal, he recovered so rapidly as to be able 
to ride home at the end of the campaign. 
Early in the revolutionary war he entered (he 
army as a subordinate officer, and continued 



in tins service until the struggle was over, at 
which time he was discharged with the rank 
of colonel. Soon after returning to his na- 
tive state he was appointed by the legislature 
a member of the privy council, the duties of 
which office he performed during the con- 
stitutional term. He was again appointed 
by the same authority to an important agency 
in the south-west, the object of which is not 
now distinctly remembered. He removed 
about the end of the last century to the neigh- 
borhood of Natchez, where he undertook the 
cultivation of the cotton plant. When a ter- 
ritorial government was established in Mis- 
sissippi he was. by the President of the Uni- 
ted States, appointed governor. Nothing 
more of him is known by the writer, save 
that he died at an advanced a^e, about half 
a century after receiving the wound at the 
battle of Point Pleasant. 

During the war between France and Great 
Britain, which commenced about the middle 
of the last century, the new settlements of 
Virginia suffered much from Indian depreda- 
tions. At this time France had possession 
of Quebec and the Canadas; the river St. 
Lawrence and the lakes were under her con- 
trol. For the defence and maintenance of 
these possessions many strong fortifications 
were erected at different points, among which 
were Ticonderoga, Fort Stanwix, Detroit and 
others. Fort DuQuesne was erected in 17ob' 
at the confluence of the Monongahela and 
Alleghany rivers. It is evident that the de- 
sign of the French monarch was to connect 
Quebec with New Orleans, by establishing a 
chain of posts along the great waters, and 
thus to limit the extension of the British 
provinces in North America. That large 
scope of country bounded by the north-west- 
ern lakes, the river Mississippi and the Ohio 
was wholly claimed by the western Indians. 
Many separate and independent tribes were 
planted throughout its whole extent. These, 
for the most part, resided in villages and 
were often at war with each other, but all 
viewed the whites as a common enemy. 
Among them the Shawnees stood pre-emi- 
nent for power and prowess. Their villages 
wen' on the Scioto, and were near to (Ik? 
whites. These different causes rendered 
them more formidable. 

At fort DuQuesne was constantly kept, 
by the French traders, a full supply of arms, 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



181 



ammunition, blankets, wampum and such 
other articles of traffic as suited the Indian 
market. Thus the Indians were attached to 
the interests of France and enlisted in her 
cause. The frontier of Virginia, at that time, 
extended from the North Carolina line on 
the Holston, to a point somewhere near fort 
DuQuesne, a distance of probably three or 
four hundred miles. The whole of this great 
extent was exposed to the incursions of the 
Indians and was often entered by them in 
bands of ten or twenty, murdering, plunder- 
ing, and capturing families, seldom remain- 
ing longer than from ten to twenty hours, 
retreating in so short a time that rarely an 
adequate force could be collected to oppose 
or pursue them, and if pursued, the Indian, 
by wily stratagems, would often elude his 
pursuers. The settlement remained in this 
unpleasant state for a number of years with 
no protection, and always apprehensive of 
danger. By the fall of the unfortunate Brad- 
dock and the annihilation of his army in the 
year 1155, matters were rendered incompara- 
bly worse. The dogs of border war were 
completely unkennelled. A large portion of 
Pennsylvania and Maryland felt the shock of 
this catastrophe; but the settlements must 
exposed were in the district of country lying 
west of the Blue Ridge from the Potomac 
the whole length of the valley and thence to 
the Carolina line on the Holston. Many in- 
dividuals and families lied from the valley over 
the Blue Ridge for safety. Fear seemed to 
seize the whole community, and the name of 
an Indian struck terror through the entire set- 
tlements. Those who did not leave their 
homes depended for safety upon rudely con- 
structed forts, which were to be found in 
every neighborhood. But alas ! the fust alarm j 
was often the sound of the rifle or war-whoop < 
of the Indian ready to pounce upon his prey. 
[1759.] A band of the Shaw nees made a de- 
scent upon Kerr's creek, in what is now 
Rockbridge county. They killed and took 
prisoners many persons, the number not now- 
known. One of these being tomahawked, 
scalped and left for dead, recovered and lived 
thirty or forty years. In 1763 a party of the 
same tribe visited the same place, killed and 
took captive thirty or forty persons, and set 
out on the next day on their return to their 
towns. In both instances they returned 1>\ 
easy journeys, carrying with them their scalps, 



prisoners, and spoils, unopposed and unpur- 
sued. These are specimens of the mode; of 
Indian warfare, and they show the depressed 
spirit of the whites, when twenty-seven In- 
dians could come a distance of three or four 
hundred miles, commit such depredations 
and go off unscathed! [1763.] A treaty of 
peace was ratified between France and Great 
Britain, * which gave some respite. Hostili- 
ties, in a great measure, ceased and prison- 
ers were surrendered. Many of the settlers 
now supposed that there were grounds to 
hope for a permanent peace. In the year 
1759 Quebec had been subdued to the Brit- 
ish arms under General Wolfe, and by treaty 
all the French possessions in the northern 
part of North America were surrendered to 
the British, and it was hoped that the French 
influence would cease. But this hope was 
chimerical ; deep-rooted enmity and strong 
antipathy existed. The whites, during the 
late war, had suffered much from Indian bar- 
barity, pillaging and burning their dwellings, 
murdering the inhabitants, carrying many 
into captivity, and of these putting to death 
not a few by lingering and painful tortures. 
These cruelties were commonly perpetrated 
along the frontier. Few settlements or even 
neighborhoods escaped. Where had lately- 
stood a comfortable cabin, occupied by an 
industrious, and peaceable, and contented 
family, might now be seen a pile of ashes 
slaked with blood. All ages, all conditions 
were alike exposed. The ruthless savage 
felt no more pity for the delicate female or 
helpless infant, than did his hatchet or scalp- 
ing knife. The settlers viewed the savages 
as enemies to mankind, th.it ought to be 
blotted from the face of the earth, and many 
thought that he who killed one. of whatever 
tribe, was doing God's service. The Indians, 
too, were not behind in hate. Their am ienl 
jealousies still existed. They viewed the 
whites as unrighteous intruders upon a soil 
which had been theirs by birthright and hum- 
possession. They recollected their unexam- 
pled success in the late border wars, and no 
doubt many of them wished their renewal. 
From such tempers and dispositions, from 
the indulgence of such passions, it were 
strange if there should not result consequen- 
ces similar in their nature, and ere long this 

* Col. Stewart says that this treaty was formed by Col. 
Bouquet in 1701 instead of llti'J. 



182 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



did happen. A party of armed men entered 
the cabin of Logan, a celebrated Mingo chief 
and in his absence slaughtered his family, con- 
sisting of women and children. This chief, 
upon his return, became indignant, implaca- 
ble, and irreconcilable. Another massacre 
was perpetrated far up the Ohio, upon a set- 
tlement of peaceable Indians, inhabiting the 
borders of Grave creek. This outrage and 
the murder of Bald Eagle, a Delaware chief, 
are believed to have been the first violations 
of the treaty of 1763. Indians consider it 
an imperative duty to revenge the death of 
their friends. The hatchet was consequently 
raised and blood streamed along the frontier 
throughout its length and breadth. Thus 
these imprudent men, by murdering those 
Indians in time of peace, brought destruc- 
tion on hundreds, and perhaps thousands of 
defenceless individuals. This state of things 
continued until the year 1774. In this year 
the government of Virginia determined to 
send an army into the Indian country. One 
division of this army was to be levied from 
the Redstone country, near Pittsburg, and 
from the north-eastern counties of the great 
Valley, to march under the immediate com- 
mand of Lord Dun more, governor of Vir- 
ginia. Another division was to be raised 
west of the Blue Ridge, chiefly from the 
counties of Augusta and Butetourt, to be 
under command of General Andrew Lewis 
of the latter county, and were directed to 
march directly through the mountains to the 
mouth of the Great Kanawha, and then' to 
await the arrival of the governor with the 
first division. About the first of September 
nearly all the troops destined for the south- 
ern division of the army had assembled in 
Greenbriar and pitched their tents at Camp 
Union, * where Lewisburg now stands. A 
few companies, however, which were to have 
been raised on the head-waters of Holston 
and New River, under the direction of Col. 
Christian, had not yet arrived. Lor these 
General Lewis waited several days, but ap- 
prehending that longer delay might be detri- 
mental to the success of the campaign, on 
the 11th of the month he ordered his troops 
to strike their tents and commence their 
march. They amounted to a thousand armed 
men, and were soon joined by Major Field 
with seventy volunteers from Culpepper. 
* Col. Sic wail calls this station Fort Savannah. 



There were besides a number of unarmed 
attendants, such as pack-horse-drivers, bul- 
lock-drivers, &c. The subsistence of the 
troops was a per-diem allowance of flour and 
fresh beef. The flour and camp equipage 
were conveyed on pack-horses ; the bullocks 
were driven in the rear of the army and 
slaughtered as occasion required. Since 
there was neither road nor pathway through 
the mountainous wilderness, Captain Ar- 
buckle preceded with a band of men who 
acted as pioneers to examine and mark out 
the route for the army. This was so laid out 
as to strike high on the Kanawha, near to the 
point where it takes its name and thence 
down its right bank. At the mouth of the 
Elk a halt was made for the purpose of con- 
structing canoes to transport the heavy bag- 
gage to Point Pleasant. By this scheme it was 
intended to get rid of the incumbrance of all 
those pack-horses, which would not be want- 
ed after a junction with the northern division. 
The canoes being completed, the army moved 
forward and arrived at Point Pleasant on the 
last day of September. This point is a pro- 
montory formed by the Great Kanawha and 
Ohio rivers, where the former falls into the 
latter at right angles. As the northern di- 
vision had not reached this place and no ad- 
vices nor orders had been received from the 
Governor, the troops were directed to form 
an encampment. For this purpose the pro- 
montory afforded ground highly eligible, de- 
fended on the north by the Ohio and on 
the south-west by the Kanawha, whilst its 
eastern side lay open to an immense wilder- 
ness. This promontory was elevated con- 
siderably above the high-water mark, and af- 
forded an extensive and variegated prospect 
of the surrounding country. Here were seen 
hills, mountains, valleys, cliffs, plains, and 
promontories, all covered with gigantic for- 
ests, the growth of centuries, standing in 
their native grandeur and integrity, unsub- 
dued, unmutilated by the hand of man, wear- 
ing the livery of the season and raising aloft 
in mid air their venerable trunks and branches 
as if to del'v the lightning of the sky and the 
fury of the whirlwind. This widely extend- 
ed prospect, though rudely magnificent and 
picturesque, wauled, nevertheless, some of 
those softer features which might embellish 
and beautify, or if the expression were per- 
mitted, might civilize the savage wildness of 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



183 



some of Nature's noblest efforts. Here were 
to be seen no villages nor hamlets, not a farm 
house nor cottage, no fields nor meadows with 
their appropriate furniture, shocks of corn nor 
herds of domestic animals. In its widest 
range the eye would in vain seek to discover 
a cultivated spot of earth on which to repose. 
Here were no marks of industry, nor of the 
exercise of those arts which minister to the 
comfort and convenience of man ; here Na- 
ture had for ages on ages held undisputed 
empire. In the deep and dismal solitude of 
these woodlands the lone wanderer would 
have been startled by the barking of the 
watch-dog, or the shrill clarion of a chanti- 
cleer. Here the whistling of the plough-boy 
or the milk-maid's song, sounds elsewhere 
heard with pleasing emotions, would have 
been incongruous and out of place. 

From this same promontory were to be 
seen two mighty rivers, travelling in different 
directions, from far distant sources, rolling 
on with strong but noiseless current their 
immense volumes of water, here about to 
unite their forces and form one majestic 
stream and this too hastening away South- 
Westwardly in a serpentine course to min- 
gle his waters with the floods of the Missis- 
sippi. This great collection of water which 
had from time immemorial flowed in one un- 
broken current, connecting the frozen moun- 
tains of the North with the Father of riv- 
ers, must have been a subject of wonder 
and admiration to the lately arrived troops. 
The Ohio river when found a century ago 
was named by the French "La Belle," the 
Beautiful. From its possessing an assem- 
blage of beauties it seems to have a just 
claim to this appellation. 

"Though deep yet clear, though gentle yet not (hill, 
Strong without lage, without o'erflowing full." 

The beauties of this river were all from Na- 
ture ; cities or towns had not arisen on its 
margin ; no water-craft rested on its bosom : 
not a boat or bark was seen to diversify its 
surface or give it animation. So far as it 
respected man, it was a watery waste, unin- 
teresting, unprofitable and unpromising For 
as yet no one had dreamed that ere long this 
would become a high-way of commerce or 
that numerous swift ships would be at no dis- 
tant day seen stemming its current, freighted 
with the fruits and fabrics and riches of other 



dim is . transp n i i< th< m for exchangi and 
thus meeting the wishes and wants of thou- 
sands of civilized inhabitants residing on its 
borders and spread abroad on the adjoining 
regions. The mind ot man is often busied 
in searching alter novelties and possibilities, 
and sometimes alter impossibilities. Yet it 
is believed that at the time of which we are 
now speaking, no one had anticipated those 
astonishing changes which have since taken 
place in the Western country and which 
have been the result of human ingenuity, 
industry and enterprise. 

The troops now lay encamped in the vi- 
cinity of the enemy, — an enemy subtle and 
insidious, and who, roused by danger, would 
exert all his energy and strength and employ 
every artifice to destroy or drive from his 
borders these hostile invaders. General 
Lewis himself possessed military talents and 
had much experience in Indian warfare. He 
could therefore pretty correctly estimate the 
circumstances in which he found himself 
placed and is said to have been much dissat- 
isfied with the course which the affairs of 
the campaign had taken. Before entering 
on the command he had been assured that 
he would be met at Point Pleasant by the 
Northern troops, which united with his own 
would constitute an army able to overawe the 
enemy and penetrate his country. But this 
assurance had not been verified. No North- 
ern troops had arrived ; no advices had been 
received. He found himself now far advanc- 
ed in the wilderness, with only a few raw. un- 
disciplined militia to stand against all theforce 
which numerous tribes of savages confedera- 
ted in one common cause, might embody, to 
destroy their common enemy. He was so- 
licitous not only for the troops under his im- 
mediate command, but also for the eventual 
success ot' the campaign. What opposition 
the army might meet with on entering the 
enemy's territory; what delays, disasters and 
difficulties he might be obliged to encounter 
in a country whose geography was but little 
known ; how far it might be necessary for 
the army to proceed and what length of time 
would be necessary for completing its ope- 
rations, — were problems which could be solv- 
ed only by actual experiment. General Lewis 
saw that much of the season for active opera- 
tion had already passed away. The days 
were becoming short and the weather cold, 



184 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



and if the severity of the winter should stop 
the progress of the army before the Indians 
were subdued, nothing would be gained and 
the public expectation would be disappoint- 
ed. When he first arrived at Point Pleasant, 
he sent runners to find the head-quarters of 
the Governor and bring advices. He also 
undertook the erection of a block-house, 
which was designed to be a depository for 
such baggage and stores as the army would 
not need while traversing the Indian coun- 
try, but which might be left here under the 
protection of a guard until the army should 
return to this place. He also adopted other 
precautionary measures for the safety of the 
troops, among these was an order prohibit- 
ing the soldiers from leaving the camp with- 
out permission. This was designed to pre- 
vent the men from going out singly or in 
small groups, lest they should be cut off by 
the scouts of the enemy and also that all the 
troops might be ready to act promptly and 
efficiently in any emergency. But this or- 
der was not regarded. Many of the men 
continued to go out every day for the pur- 
pose of hunting as they had done before the 
order was issued. This was irksome and 
unpleasant to the commander, who was 
vested with ample authority, but without the 
power to enforce obedience. To resort to 
military punishment would have been vain. 
Most of the men and some of the officers 
indulged a spirit of insubordination, and 
coercion might have produced open muti- 
ny. Whilst the troops lay here, some dis- 
content took place on account of the dis- 
tribution of provision. Certain companies 
complained of partiality, alleging that they 
had drawn beef of very inferior quality, whilst 
other companies fared much better. This 
drew forth an order from the commander, 
directing that all beef of an inferior qual- 
ity should be first slaughtered and distribu- 
ted to the troops alike. This order was is- 
sued on the 9th of October, and on the next 
morning before the break of day at least one 
hundred of the soldiers had left the camp 
to seek their rations in the woods. Before 
this all the game in the immediate vicinity of 
the camp had been killed or driven oil". 
About break of day, on the morning of the 
10th of October, a strong band of Indians 
was found advancing on the camp. A de- 
tachment from the army ordered to meel 



them commenced a heavy fire soon after 
sunrise. By this time the hunters had pro- 
ceeded so far as to be quite out of hearing, 
and knew nothing about the battle until they 
returned in the evening. A few hunters, 
perhaps half-a-dozen, who had taken their 
course up the river, met the Indians and 
were killed or driven back. Thus by this act 
of disobedience the army was deprived on 
this important occasion of about a hundred 
of its best marksmen, or nearly one-tenth of 
its whole number. Had these been present, 
the action would probably have been of short- 
er duration and less disastrous. The army 
under General Lewis had never been sub- 
jected to discipline. It had been gathered 
in a mountainous country and brought with 
it a spirit of freedom and independence, a 
spirit which mountaineers always possess, 
which sometimes prompts to great and noble 
deeds, but which is wholly incompatible with 
the life and duties of a soldier, unless when 
modified and corrected by much training and 
discipline. These men were healthy, active 
and energetic and accustomed to the toils 
and privations of new settlers. They were 
well prepared for the hardships of a military 
life and when tried in battle were found to 
possess that firm and persevering courage 
which insures victory. They were indeed 
the raw materials from which by proper train- 
ing, might have been manufactured as gal- 
lant and efficient soldiers as ever manoeu- 
vred on the fields of Warsaw and Waterloo. 
Let us return from this digression. At an 
early day the Indians had become acquaint- 
ed with the movements in Virginia and even 
with the plan of the campaign. The Shawnees 
rightly judging that they would be the first ob- 
ject of attack, called in their out-posts, viz ; 
their hunting and marauding parties, and 
strengthened themselves by renewing their al- 
liance with many other tribes, thus securing 
their aid and co-operation. Even while Gen- 
eral Lewis was on his march, the warriors were 
assembling. Their place of rendezvous was 
between Chilicothe and Point Pleasant, not 
far distant from the latter. Their intention 
at first had been to attack the army while 
crossing the river, but afterwards it was de- 
termined that it should be permitted to pass 
undisturbed and commence its march with 
the view of cutting it off more completely 
by ambuscade in the wilderness country. 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



185 



This course was probably suggested by some 
aged warrior, who, nineteen years before, had 
witnessed the success of the stratagem by 
which the army of Braddock was allowed to 
cross the Monongahela and proceed with- 
out interruption until it fell into the embrace 
of destruction. 

As the Indians while on a foray have no 
supplies of provisions, save what every man 
carries for his own use, it necessarily hap- 
pens that where any considerable number are 
embodied, their excursion must be of short 
duration. They had already been assembled 
some length of time, but as General Lewis 
since his arrival had kept himself closeh 
within his encampment, they had found no 
opportunity for attacking him to advantage, 
nor could it be foreseen when such opportu- 
nity might offer. Under these circumstan- 
ces they became apprehensive of scarcity, 
which might cause a breaking up of their 
camp and a dispersion of their forces. A 
council of their chiefs was therefore called. 
Here it was proposed that they should cross 
the river some miles above Point Pleasant 
and inarch down in the night undiscovered, 
so that they might at break of day surprise 
the camp and carry it by general assault. 
Cornstalk, a noted Shawnee chief, opposed 
this course, alleging that war was not for the 
interest of the Indians and that overtures for 
peace should be made to the whites. But 
overruled by numbers, he acquiesced, re- 
minding the council that they who had now 
declared for war, were responsible for the 
consequences and must fight with great bra- 
very, while he would himself accompany 
them and witness their performance. Ac- 
cordingly on the evening of the 9th of Octo- 
ber, soon after dark, they began to cross the 
river on rafts previously prepared. To ferry 
so many men over this wide river and on 
these clumsy transports must have required 
considerable time. But before morning they 
were all on the eastern bank ready to pro- 
ceed. Their route now lay down the margin 
of the river, through an extensive bottom. 
On this bottom was a heavy growth of tim- 
ber, with a foliage so dense as in many pla- 
ces to intercept in a great measure the light 
of the moon and stars. Beneath lay many 
trunks of fallen trees, strewed in difFerenl 
directions and in various stages of decay. 
The whole surface of the ground was cover- 



ed with a luxuriant growth of weeds, inter- 
spersed with entangling vines and creepers 
and in some places with close-set thickets of 
spice-wood or other undergrowth. A jour- 
ney through this in the night, must have 
been tedious, tiresome, dark and dreary. 
The Indians, however, entered on it prompt- 
ly and persevered until break of day, when 
about a mile distant from the camp, one of 
those unforeseen incidents occurred, which 
so often totally defeat or greatly mar the best 
concerted military enterprises. Two soldiers 
from the camp, wishing to make a success- 
ful hunt, set out before day in order to be on 
the hunting ground as soon as it was light 
enough to discover the game. These were 
met and fired on; one of them fell; the 
other, whose name was Robertson,* after- 
wards known in Tennessee by the title of 
Colonel, not relishing this rough situation so 
early in the morning, retraced his steps with 
all convenient speed to the camp, where he 
related his adventures to the commander-in- 
chief. " While he was yet speaking" his 
account was confirmed by other hunters who 
had seen the Indians. Three hundred men 
were ordered out as a party of discovery and 
observation, under the command of Colonel 
Charles Lewis, brother of the commander- 
in-chief, and Col. William Fleming. These 
set forward at sun-rise, in obedience to their 
orders, and when less than half a mile distant 
from the camp encountered the whole force 
of the enemy. The line of white men ex- 
tended in a direction across the bottom, 
where it was fully a mile wide, the left, com- 
manded by Colonel Fleming, resting on the 
river bank ; the right, under Lewis, extended 
far toward the rising ground or blulVol' Crook- 
ed creek, a branch of the Kanawha. The 
attack was first made on the right, but the 
firing was soon heard along the whole extent 
of the line, and for a short time was very 
sharp and here several of the combatants fell 
on both sides. But believing themselves to 
be orcatly overpowered by numbers, and both 
the leaders, Lewis and Fleming being wound- 
ed, the former mortally, the latter severely, 
the whole party fell back, but not in confu- 
sion. They continued pretty well embodied, 

* Col. Stewart says that his name was Moony and that 
he stopped before his lent-door, to relate his adventure. 
Col. I. 'hi- calls Liu. Robertson, which is confirmed by 
Messrs. Kin! & Moore. The one who "as killed, was 
named Hickman, according to Col. Stewart. 



•21 



186 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



much as they had been when the action com- 
menced, and kept up a constant fire which 
retarded the pursuit of the enemy and gave 
time for the arrival of a re-inforcement. This 
onset produced great alarm in the camp. 
The weight of the firino- showed that the en- 
emy were re-inforced and the progression of 
the sound, that they were nearing the camp. 
A re-inforcement of fifteen men was ordered 
from each company, amounting probably to 
less than two hundred and fifty. A tumul- 
tuous state of affairs prevented this order 
from being executed with precision. Some, 
anticipating the order, had hastened to relieve 
their brethren and were already in the field. 
Others promptly obeyed the call when it was 
received. A portion appeared to move slow- 
ly as if reluctant to quit the camp, while 
another portion, and not a few, as was thought, 
mingling with the promiscuous crowd con- 
cealed themselves, evaded the order and thus 
kept out of harm's way. As this re-inforce- 
ment advanced, not in a body, but in disor- 
derly succession, it was long exposed and 
suffered much from the enemy, before it could 
be arranged in the line of battle. The re- 
treating party now strengthened and encour- 
aged, refused farther to give ground, whilst 
the Indians pressed on with great earnest- 
ness and being indignant at having their pro- 
gress checked, by their impetuosity suffered 
much in their turn. Although they had been 
foiled in their attempt of surprising the camp 
at break of day, yet now elated by their par- 
tial success, they hoped that by driving back 
the whites and furiously pursuing them into 
the camp, they might, amidst the confusion 
and carnage which would follow, gain their 
primary object, but the whites remained firm 
and immovable and now was the heat of the 
battle. The combatants stood opposite, each 
threatening death and destruction upon the 
other. Neither would retreat; neither could 
advance. The noise of the firing was tre- 
mendous. No single gun could be distin- 
guished, but it was one constant roar. The 
rille and tomahawk now did their work with 
dreadful certainty. The confusion and pertur- 
bation of the camp had now arrived at their 
greatest height. The ground of the encamp- 
ment was an area of triangular form, two 
sides of which were bounded by the rivers 
Ohio and Kanawha, and the third exposed to 
the battle-ground. On the area, there were 



men to the number of six or eight hundred, 
of various descriptions, armed and unarmed, 
all pent up by the great waters in the rear, 
and the eremy in front, without an avenue 
by which to escape. None knew the strength 
of the enemy ; all knew that the whites had 
been retreating and were now on the very 
verge cf the camp and that by another push, 
if the Indians had the strength to make it, 
the camp might become the battle-ground. 
The confused noise and wild uproar of battle, 
added greatly to the terror of the scene. The 
shouting of the whites, while the re-inforce- 
ment was advancing, the continual roar of 
the fire-arms, the war-whoop and dismal yel- 
ling of the Indians, sounds harsh and grating 
when heard separately, became by mixture 
and combination highly discordant and terrific. 
Add to this the constant succession of the 
dead and wounded, brought off from the bat- 
tle-field, many of these with shattered limbs 
and lacerated flesh, pale, ghastly, and disfig- 
ured, and besmeared with gore, their " gar- 
ments rolled in blood," and uttering doleful 
cries of lamentation and distress ; others faint, 
feebly and exhausted by loss of blood, scarce- 
ly able with quivering lips to tell their ail to 
passers-by. Sounds and sights and circum- 
stances such as these were calculated to ex- 
cite general solicitude for the issue of the 
battle, and alarm in each individual for his 
own personal safety. Early in the day Gen- 
eral Lewis had ordered a breast-work to be 
constructed from the Ohio to the Kanawha, 
thus severing the camp from the neighbour- 
ing forest. This breast-work was formed by 
felling trees and so disposing of their trunks 
and branches, as to form a barrier which was 
difficult to pass. It was designed that should 
the enemy gain an ascendency in the field, 
this barrier might prevent their entrance into 
the camp, while at the same time it might 
serve as a protection to the garrison that was 
within. The sun had not ascended far in his 
midway path when the storm of battle be- 
gan to subside and the firing to abate. Both 
parties had put forth their most strenuous 
efforts and both had sustained heavy loss ; 
yet both seemed willing to continue the con- 
test. Nevertheless, as if taught by experi- 
ence, both seemed willing to shelter them- 
selves carefully and avoid exposure, whilst 
at the same time they were careful to em- 
ploy every opportunity for annoying their 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



187 



enemy. Seldom now did any one expose 
himself to view and when such an occur- 
rence took place, five or ten or perhaps more 
guns were discharged from the opposite line. 
After this there was silence until a like oc- 
currence again took place. In this desul- 
tory way the battle was continued for a con- 
siderable time. Although the Indians had 
manifested a disposition to continue the con- 
test, they had in fact already determined to 
quit the field and had taken precautionary 
measures to render their retreat more secure. 
A portion of their force was detailed to con- 
ceal the dead, that their scalps might not 
come into possession of the enemy and to 
remove the wounded to a place of safety. 
Whilst this detachment was performing these 
duties, the main body maintained the line of 
battle and kept the white men at bay. But 
as soon as it was known that the wounded 
were placed in security, the whole Indian 
line fell back several hundred yards and there 
in ambush awaited the approach of their pur- 
suers. These followed with too little cau- 
tion and suffered for their temerity. Several 
times the Indians practised the same manoeu- 
vre by retreating and concealing themselves, 
and in each of these stations exhibited the 
same kind of desultory warfare. The last of 
these positions proved advantageous for shel- 
ter and concealment and here the Indians 
remained for several hours, maugre all the 
efforts of the whites to dislodge them. At 
length Captain Shelby, since governor of 
Kentucky and noted for his skill and in- 
trepidity in Indian warfare, was ordered by 
the commander-in-chief with a party of men 
to pass round south of the battle-ground 
and gain a station in the rear of the enemy, 
or at least one from which he might enfilade 
their line. This was nearly accomplished, 
when the design was discovered, and soon 
after the whole of the Indians fied the field. 
The day was now far spent; the men were 
exhausted by hunger, fatigue and anxiety. 
Nothing it was thought could be gained by 
further pursuit. The victory was complete 
and the troops returned to the camp. 

The foregoing sketch of the retreat of the 
Indians was taken from conversations held 
with individuals, who had themselves been in 
the battle. These on several minor points 
did not entirely harmonize, but considering 
the circumstances in which they were placed 



during the day and the great lapse of time 
since this occurrence, a coincidence of views 
could not be expected. This retreat in its 
plan and execution has generally been 
thought to have been made with skill and 
dexterity. European and Indian battles are 
so different in their character as hardly to 
admit of comparison. But had a skilful of- 
ficer of high reputation in modern warfare 
conducted this retreat precisely as it was done 
by Cornstalk and his associates, the milita- 
ry character of such officer, it is believed, 
would not have suffered by the performance. 
At first the Indians expected, by surprising 
the camp, to gain possession of it and 
its scalps and its spoils. But failing in 
this and losing many of their warriors, their 
next purpose was to escape from the whites 
with as little further loss and delay as possi- 
ble. Their great difficulty seems to have 
been to secure the wounded. Many of these 
had been disabled two or three miles from 
that point of the river, where the rafts had 
been moored and to which point it was ne- 
cessary that they should all be transported in 
order to recross. With their means of trans- 
portation this must have required much time 
and labor. But after the retreat commen- 
ced the Indian chief managed with so much 
adroitness, that the pursuers had not gained 
probably more than one mile and a half, cer- 
tainly not two miles in six or seven hours. 
Thus it happened that the whole band had 
time to recross the river in the evening, or 
first part of the night. Not a prisoner was 
made nor one of the wounded fell into the 
hands of his enemies. To conduct a retreat 
successfully requires generally greater and 
more various talents than to gain a victory. 
The retreat of the ten thousand Greeks 
through many hostile nations, brought into 
exercise greater and more diversified talents 
than the celebrated victory over Darius king 
of Persia. The former conducted by Xeno- 
phon, gained for him a more enviable repu- 
tation than had ever been conceded to the 
hair-brained son of Philip of Macedon. The 
former saved from inevitable destruction a 
numerous band of his countrymen and re- 
stored them to their native land. The latter 
caused the destruction of a great Prince and 
myriads of his numerous army, whose only 
crime was to defend themselves against a 
total overthrow. 



188 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



The retreat of Washington in 1777 with 
but the skeleton of an army — a mere forlorn 
hope, elicited more and greater military vir- 
tues, than any period of his eventful life, not 
excepting even that proud occasion when at 
Yorktown, Virginia, the British standard fell 
before him. In the year 1755, when but a 
youth, this same Washington gave an earn- 
est of his future greatness when he collected 
and conducted the shattered remains of Brad- 
dock's army. On this occasion he discover- 
ed such strength of mind, such maturity of 
judgment and such decision of character, as 
are rarely united with age and experience. 
Another example to the same point might be 
given in the person of General Greene. The 
retreat of the Southern army in the winter of 
1781, through a wasted country, abounding 
with enemies for hundreds of miles, without 
any loss of men, artillery or baggage, al- 
though pursued by a superior force under 
a skilful General, must have required no or- 
dinary military skill. On entering Virginia 
and receiving re-inforcements, he faced and 
fought the gallant Cornwalhs, who in his 
turn was forced to retreat, leaving his dead 
and wounded to the mercy of his enemy. 
And now without loss of time General 
Greene traversed the country, where he had 
been a fugitive, rapidly reducing the enemy's 
out-posts, so that in a few months he was 



in separate graves. Here was no pomp or 
pageantry, no muffled drums; no minute 
guns, no vollies of platoons were fired over 
their grave. Badges of mourning, ensigns 
of sorrow were not in demand. The reality 
itself was here. Sorrow was depicted upon 
every countenance. Those very men, who 
but yesterday, with stern brow and dauntless 
breast in the fore front of the hottest battle, 
defied the most ruthless of the savage foe, 
were now seen suffused with tears and melted 
with grief. This was not from mental imbe- 
cility or feminine weakness. To lament the 
fate of the brave who fall in the cause of 
their country, and to perpetuate their mem- 
ory is the dictate of humanity; it is charac- 
teristic of noble and generous minds, the 
uniform practice of every age and the duty 
of every people. I would not envy the har- 
dihood of him who could, without sensible 
emotion, witness such a scene. He must 
doubtless be destitute of one of the noblest 
attributes of our nature. This solemn ser- 
vice is now ended : dust has returned to dust 
and other duties await the survivors. They 
must bid a long adieu to the dead, whose re- 
mains rest here, far from their home and be- 
loved friends. Here in the bosom of a vast 
wilderness, the haunt of wild beasts, where 
rude savages roam and where a civilized foot 
has seldom trod, — here, free from all sublu- 



compelled to concentrate all his forces at two nary tumult, may they repose in peaceful si- 



points. The points being both accessible to 
shipping were convenient stations from which 
to run away. Thus we see that General 
Greene had the courage to retreat when he 
could not meet the enemy on equal terms ; 
that this retreat was conducted without loss ; 
and that eventually he was able to establish 
peace and order in the Southern Country. 

On the morning of the 11th, the day after the 
battle of Point Pleasant, about twenty* dead 
bodies required the rites of sepulture. Pre- 
parations were accordingly made to perform 
the duty with as much decent respect as cir- 
cumstances would permit. Large pits were 
opened; coflins and shrouds were out of the 
question ; every man's blanket served for his 
winding-sheet. The bodies were laid side by 
side on the cold earth, and the same mate- 
rial was used to cover and conceal them 
from view. A few, however, in accordance 
with the wishes of their friends were interred 

* Oilier accounts make the number forty. 



lence, till that great eventful day when land 
and sea shall give up their dead ! During the 
border wars the slain of the vanquished were 
seldom buried. To bury them would have 
been often difficult, sometimes dangerous ; 
besides, the inveterate enmity which then ex- 
isted between the white men and the Indians, 
precluded all acts of humanity or courtesy. 
The vengeful savage sometimes pursued his 
adversary even beyond the confines of life, 
mutilating and disfiguring the breathless car- 
cass. Nor was the white man always free 
from such atrocities. But on the present 
occasion there would have been neither dif- 
ficulty nor danger. To have buried the dead 
would have comported with the superior civ- 
ilization and intelligence of the white man 
and his pretensions to religion and it might 
have softened the ferocity of Indians, to know 
that the remains of their warriors which might 
fall into the hands of their enemies would be 
treated with respect. That this was not done 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



189 



we think is attributable rather to the charac- 
ter of the times, than to any peculiar perver- 
sity in the temper or character of the actors. 
Be this as it may, certain it is, that more than 
twenty bodies of the Indians, who fell in bat- 
tle, were permitted to putrify and decay on 
the ground where they expired, or to be de- 
voured by birds or beasts of prey. The moun- 
tain eagle, lord of the feathered race, whilst 
from his lofty cairn, with piercing eye, he 
surveyed the varied realms around and far 
beneath, would not fail to descry the sump- 
tuous feast prepared for his use. Here he 
might whet his beak and feast and fatten 
and exult. Over these the gaunt wolf, grim 
tyrant of the forest, might prolong his mid- 
night revelry and howl their funeral elegy. 
Whilst far remote, in the deepest gloom of the 
wilderness, whither they had lied for safety, 
the surviving warriors might wail their fate, 
or chant a requiem to their departed spirits. 
Meanwhile the deceased themselves equally 
regardless of the waitings of friends and the 
neglect and indignity offered to their own 
perishable remains, rest in quietness and 
sleep as soundly as if entombed with honor 
and pomp amid all the paraphernalia of a 
military funeral. 

This was undoubtedly one of the most ob- 
stinately contested battles ever fought on the 
Western frontier. It commenced with the 
rising sun and ended about four o'clock in 
the afternoon. The proportion of killed and 
wounded was very great. On the largest 
calculation there could not have been more 
than five hundred and fifty whites in the field. 
Of these one hundred and forty-four were 
killed and wounded, being more than one- 
fourth of the whole number, and making an 
average of more than one for every four 
minutes during the time the battle lasted. It 
would not be easy to produce another in- 
stance in which undisciplined men held out 
for such a length of time, whilst sustaining 
so great a loss of numbers; and, indeed, such 
an example can seldom be found among dis- 
ciplined troops. In the battle of Waterloo, 
the English had thirty-six thousand men in 
the field; the content was obstinate and for 
a long time doubtful ; they fought with troops 
equally brave and well disciplined as them- 
selves. Victory finally declared in favor of 
the English. The British official returns 
give nine thousand, nine hundred and nine- 



ty-nine men killed and wounded, being more 
than a fourth, but not a third of the whole 
number. In the battle of Bunker Hill, two 
thousand, five hundred undisciplined militia, 
with no other arms than they had been ac- 
customed to use about home and without ar- 
tillery, had voluntarily assembled on an emi- 
nence, near Boston, in the night, and before 
morning had thrown up a slight entrench- 
ment and when discovered, the British com- 
mander ordered three thousand veteran troops 
to dislodge them ; these were completely 
armed, led on by skilful Generals and sup- 
ported by a battery and shipping; twice they 
assailed the militia and were as often repul- 
sed ; at the third attack, the ammunition of 
the Provincials having failed and being des- 
titute of bayonets, they were compelled to 
retreat, leaving between four and five hun- 
dred killed and wounded. The British offi- 
cial returns made their loss one thousand and 
fifty-six — being more than a third of the 
whole number engaged in the battle. An 
example of so great a proportionate loss can 
scarcely be found in the annals of war, un- 
less indeed where great disparity of numbers 
or some untoward circumstances caused a 
rout instead of a battle. The battle of Bun- 
ker Hill is in every respect unexampled, and 
if we may be allowed to use the phrase, a 
perfect non-descript. 

The number of Indians engaged in the 
battle of Point Pleasant is altogether uncer- 
tain. Some of the hunters who saw them 
early in the morning, reported them as very 
numerous, covering several acres of ground. 
The first party under General Charles Lewis 
retreated, alleging that they were greatly 
overpowered by the number of the enemy. 
The line of the Indians during the battle was 
co-extensive with that of the whites, stretch- 
ing from the river quite across the bottom, 
about a mile to Crooked creek. It is said 
to be a maxim of Indian policy, never wil- 
lingly to fight an equal force without some 
manifest advantage and this maxim seems to 
be founded on common sense ; for little can 
be gained in a contest where blows are 
equal on both sides. In this battle the In- 
dians maintained the fight with great ob.-ti- 
nacy, which they would not have done ac- 
cording to this maxim, had they not consid- 
ered themselves superior in numbers. Whilst 
General Lewis with his army was inarching 



190 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



from Greenbrier and lying at Point Pleasant, 
the Shawnees had full time to form confed- 
eracies and engage assistance from the neigh- 
boring tribes, who, it was known, made a 
common cause on all occasions against the 
whites. It has already been said that twenty 
white men expired on the battle-ground. 
Nineteen Indians were found dead in the field 
and three were discovered on the day follow- 
ing, who had been imperfectly concealed. 
How many killed and wounded were borne 
off, there are no means of ascertaining. 
" They were discovered throwing their dead 
into the Ohio all the day '*" All the circum- 
stances show that the Indians were numerous, 
and the probability is that theygreatly ex- 
ceeded the number of whites engaged in 
the battle. In Europe, where despots send 
forth their tens and hundreds of thousands of 
hirelings to slaughter each other, the loss of 
Point Pleasant would be thought inconsider- 
able, scarcely worthy of notice. But let it 
be considered that these men were taken 
from a large district of country, as yet but 
thinly inhabited, where each individual might 
be acquainted with every other for six or eight 
milesaround. A common interest, common 
dangers and a common sympathy cemented 
them together. A portion of these were 
men in the prime of life, possessing intelli- 
gence, influence and respectability. Anoth- 
er portion of them were younger, most of 
whom gave good promise of future worth. 
These were not hirelings ; no mercenary mo- 
tives had led them to battle. They went at 
their country's call for the protection of the 
defenceless frontier. They met the enemy 
and theirs was the fate of war. But they fell 
not ingloriously like the slain on Mount Gil- 
boa ; their weapons of war perished not, nor 
was their shield vilely cast away ; they fell 
fighting bravely and their death contributed 
to the victory that followed. 

General Lewis soon after the battle re- 
ceived orders t from the governor to march 
the troops to a certain point in the Indian 

* So says Col. Andrew Lewis of Montgomery, yet liv- 
ing. [1836] 

t Col. Slew. nl says : " On the day before the battle some 
scouts came down the river from his lordship's camp ex- 
press to General Lewis with orders to cross the river and 
march his troops to the Shawnee towns, where he would 
meet us with his army." But Col. A. Lewis of Montgom- 
ery says, that General Lewis crossed the river without any 
orders. Aftergiving an account ol the battle and things pre- 
vious, his words are: — -" All this time nothing was heard 
from Dunmore;" and again, "He received no orders from the 
governor after lie left the encampment in Greenbrier ;" and 
gain, " Gen. Lewis was mver ordeied to cross the river." 



country. This he did, crossing the Ohio 
three miles above Point Pleasant. During 
their march Indians were often seen hover- 
ing around, hanging on their skirts or rear, 
and sometimes in front. Apprehensions 
were entertained of a battle, but no hostili- 
ties took place. On the last day of their 
march, when ten or fifteen miles from the 
governor's camp, a flag met General Lewis, 
bearing an order from Dunmore to halt where 
he then was. To this General Lewis seemed 
to pay no attention, but continued his march. 
The flag returned and in a few hours appear- 
ed again with another order to the same ef- 
fect; this order was treated as the first and the 
march continued until the army arrived at 
a convenient place for encampment, within 
three miles of the governor's head-quarters, 
who had marched his troops directly to this 
place from the Redstone country. Very 
soon after halting, it was discovered that 
there were in this neighborhood great num- 
bers of wild turkeys and in a very little time 
a strong detachment of troops armed and 
equipped for the purpose, fearlessly sallied 
forth to make an attack on them. Marching 
on with hasty step in loose phalanx with 
trailed arms, the object of their search was 
soon descried in close order, standing aghast, 
with heads erect, admiring this novel phe- 
nomenon, — a regiment of white faces, what 
they had never before seen, in dread array ap- 
proaching, — surprised indeed, but not ter- 
rified, for thought they, " what punishment 
shall we fear doing no wrong ?" Suddenly 
and unexpectedly, when within half rifle- 
shot, there commenced a heavy firing, which 
soon became extensive. From this they 
soon learned that innocence is not always a 
protection against injury. They now be- 
came disconcerted and fell back. The firing 
continued with great rapidity and the tur- 
keys being hard pressed and closely pursued 
through copse and glen, over hill and dale, 
and being much fatigued and despairing of 
restoring the fortunes of the day, suddenly 
betook themselves to flight, leaving the con- 
querors in full possession of the field. They 
glorying in their victory, now returned to the 
camp, conveying with them at least five hun- 
dred scalps of the enemy. * These were not 
rudely and barbarously torn from the heads 
of the slain, but the bodies, necks and heads 

* This engagement was styled "The Battle of the Tur- 
key Gobblers." 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



191 



were borne to camp, with the scalps stick- 
ing as close as night-caps and all exhibited 
to public view, so that there could be no de- 
ception. And now glee and merriment pre- 
vailed, every man vaunting and boasting of 
his own exploits and adventures. But the 
exultation was not complete till the returns 
from the proper officers were made and it 
was found that although the affray was long 
and bloody and had lasted for more than 
twice forty minutes, yet not one man was 



Montgomery, it will be seen how much the 
troops under General Lewis were incensed 
against Dunmore. He says, " General Lewis 
had to double and triple the guard over his 
marquee, to prevent the men from killing the 
governor and the Indians," who came with 
him to the camp. * 

The governor now ordered General Lewis 
forthwith to lead his troops back to Point 
Pleasant ; to leave a garrison in the fort with 
necessary stores for them and the wounded ; 



lost, either killed, wounded, or missing. The then to conduct the residue of the army back 
firing had been so heavy that it was heard in to the settlements and discharge them. All 
the governor's camp three miles distant and which was accordingly done and the cam- 
it was there believed, that the Indians and paign ended. 



white men under Lewis had gotten to hard 
knocks again. The Redstone boys seizing 
their arms hastily ran across the plain, anx- 
ious to know the certainty and if necessary 
to act a part. Before their arrival the en- 
gagement was over and the troops had re- 
turned, but what was the surprise of the al- 
lied troops, when they were told that all this 
fuss was nothing more than an attack upon 
one of the most harmless and helpless of the 
feathered race ? And their surprise was not 
diminished, when they were convinced by 
signs that could not be mistaken, that the 
conquerors, cannibal-like, were about to de- 
vour the bodies of the slain. The Redstone 
troops were a fine set of fellows and gave 
no symptom of backwardness to take a brush 
with any equal number of the tawny sons of 
the West. Their uniform dress gave them a 
martial air, which rendered them superior in 
appearance to the troops under General Lew- 
is. The Lewisites were willing to admit all 
this and that the Redstone boys had in some 
respects the superiority over them, yet not- 
withstanding the motley mixture in color and 
materials with which they were clothed, they 
piqued themselves not a little in having been 
fairly tried in battle a few days before and 
found able to stand fire and drive their ene- 
my out of the field. 

On the same day the governor visited the 
camp, held converse with General Lewis and 
his officers, and no doubt communicated to 
them the provisions of the treaty which he 
had already formed with the Indian chiefs. * 
From the account given by Col. A. Lewis of 



* Col. A. Lewis of Montgomery says : " Nor was there 
any treaty made until the spring ; after the battle General 
Lewis held a treaty with them, in which they were bound 
to keep hostages of their chiefs at the Fort Point Pleasant." 



The results of this campaign were various. 
'The fall of so many brave men was lamented. 
This clothed many families and neighbor- 
hoods in mourninff. But the Indians were 
defeated and many of their warriors were 
killed or crippled. 

Thus weakened and dispirited they desi- 
red peace. Peace was desirable to the white 
settlements also. Thev^ had experienced but 
little tranquillity since the first settlement of 
the country. But peace was more peculiar- 
ly desirable in a national point of view. The 
provinces were on the eve of a war with Great 
Britain, and hostilities actually commenced 
in the Spring of 1775. This produced uni- 
versal anarchy ; all government was dissolved. 
In Virginia the governor prorogued the As- 
sembly and having by a series of unwarran- 
table acts, forfeited public confidence, con- 
scious of crime, he meditated safety by flight 
from the resentment of an injured people. 
Having found refuge in an armed vessel, he 
commenced a petty-larceny war on the plan- 
tations, hamlets and water-craft along the 
shore of the Chesapeake. At length wea- 
ried of doing nothing, he left his retinue of 
renegade whites and runaway negroes to shift 
for themselves and having by a perfidious 
course of conduct, inscribed, " here lieth," 
on his deceased honor, he quitted the pro- 
vince. " Sic transit gloria mundi !" 

But this state of anarchy, in Virginia, was 
short-lived. The people spontaneously elec- 
ted members for a new assembly. These 
having met, a governor and other civil offi- 
cers were appointed ; a constitution for the 
State was formed on republican principles; 
a system of finance established ; sundry ne- 



Jce A. Lewis' letter in Appendix- 



192 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



cessary laws enacted and militory officers 
appointed to enlist soldiers for the national 
defence. All this was done in a short time 
without tumult or turmoil. People then were 
honest, and officers faithful. There was no 
intriguing for office, or scrambling for the 
loaves and fishes. Had an Indian war bro- 
ken out simultaneously with the war for in- 
dependence ; during this state of chaos and 
confusion, had that immense swarm of taw- 
ny savages, which assailed General Lewis in 
1774, been let loose on the long unprotected 
line of frontier, the consequences must have 
been awfully destructive and terrible. In no 
part of Western Virginia was the population 
at that time numerous. Some portions of 
the country, from the fewness of its inhabi- 
tants, must have been deserted or destroyed. 
Where there was a greater population, resis- 
tance would have been made. People would 
have contended desperately for their houses 
and their homes, and probably the enemy 
would have been repulsed. But to have ef- 
fected this and to have guarded against fu- 
ture incursions, would have required the 
whole military strength of the upper country. 
There would have been no surplus for national 
purposes. Throughout the revolution, Vir- 
ginia occupied a middle position among the 
States, giving assistance to the North or the 
South as occasion required. But now lop- 
ped of her Western limb, by this Indian war, 
she could have done but little more than 
guard her own Eastern border, and not only 
proved an inefficient ally, but dividing the 
members of the confederacy from each other 
by the whole breadth of her territory, must 
have obstructed their union and co-operation 
in matters of mutual interest. Such a state 
of things might have greatly embarrassed and 
perplexed the Carolinas and Georgia, and 
might have imposed upon them the necessity 
of resuming their former allegiance and ask- 
ing protection from that power from which 
they had revolted. It is not however proba- 
ble that this state of things would have pro- 
ved fatal to the American cause. The spirit 
of the people had been roused and could 
have been quieted by nothing less than the 
independence of the country. It may be 
thought that as the inhabitants of the upper 
country were not numerous, so her military 
strength would be proportionally weak, and 
that, therefore, the abstraction of this from 



the national cause, could not be sensibly felt. 
But though the population was not numerous, 
yet it was a white population. The black 
population, in the upper country, was at that 
time scarcely worthy of notice, while East of 
the Blue Ridge, negroes may have amounted 
to one-third or one-fourth of the whole popu- 
lation. Hence it happened that the military 
strength of Western Virginia, was much 
greater than that of Eastern Virginia, in pro- 
portion to their respective population. Wes- 
tern Virginia was now new. Few settle- 
ments had been made for more than thirty or 
forty years. Her population had been made 
by emigrants from abroad. Such emigra- 
tions are generally composed of men in the 
prime of life, and thus the military strength 
of this country was proportionally greater 
than in the settlements of Old Virginia, where 
the population was from natural increase. 
From these two causes the military strength 
of the upper country was much greater than 
might have been at first supposed. These 
were all armed with rifles, were proud of 
their arms and expert in their use. A rifle- 
man in those days would have thought him- 
self degraded by being compelled to carry a 
musket. In going into battle he had great 
confidence in himself and in his fellows. 
Not regardless of personal safety, he always, 
where it could be conveniently found, pos- 
sessed himself of a tree or some other shelter, 
from behind which, with much composure, 
he annoyed his enemy. Economical in his 
expenditure of ammunition, he used his rifle 
with great precision, always solicitous that 
one ball should bring down two of his foes. 
Whenever this class of soldiers was found in 
the North or in the South, they soon fought 
themselves into notice. At Stillwater and 
Saratoga, at King's Mountain, the Cowpens, 
Guilford and elsewhere, they were conspicu- 
ous. Could the ghosts of the daring Fergu- 
son and the cruel and sanguinary Tarleton 
be permitted to return and tell their story, 
the former would doubtless lament the fatal 
day when he, with hundreds of his deluded 
tory followers, fell before the sharp-shooting 
mountaineers, whilst the latter might rejoice 
and exult in having been able with nearly 
half his Myrmidons, by a precipitate flight, 
to escape from the horrid grasp of the iron- 
handed, uncourtly Morgan, who very uncer- 
emoniously made prisoners of the other half. 



HISTORY OP VIRGINIA. 



193 



But the Indian war that we have been con- 
templating was not realized. A number of 
Indian tribes did combine fortius purpose, 
and their warriors were assembled in great 
force. But the campaign being carried into 
the enemy's country, they were defeated in 
battle and disappointed in their expectations. 
This campaign has not been appreciated in 
proportion to its importance. It has been 
viewed as an insulated matter, designed solely 
for the protection of the frontier settlements. 
But its projectors had ulterior objects in view. 
The preparations made and great array of 
troops provided for this occasion, were in- 
tended to subdue the Indian tribes and deter 
them from interfering in the approaching con- 
test with Great Britain and this was com- 
pletely effected. For several years peace 
and quietness prevailed on the western fron- 
tier. During this period the first shock of 
the revolution had passed away; order and 
government were re-established ; armies were 
raised and battles fought, in many of which 
the success of American arms gave proof 
that the British lion was not invincible. Du- 
ring this period Virginia had full opportunity 
to employ the whole of her resources in the 
war of Independence. Two causes may be 
assigned why the advantages of this campaign 
were not duly appreciated. First it was fol- 
lowed by events of great magnitude in quick 
succession. Each more recent event by at- 
tracting public attention to itself in a great 
degree obscured and cast into the shade 
events which had preceded. The second 
cause may be found in the scene of action. 
The affairs of the campaign were transacted 
in the Indian country, far from the white set- 
tlements, and the battle was fought in the 
depths of the wilderness, where there were 
none to witness it save those engaged. Post- 
offices and post-riders were then unknown. 
There was but one newspaper then in Virgin- 
ia. This was a small sheet published weekly by 
Purdie and Dixon, at Williamsburg, then the 
capital of the State, and near her eastern bol- 
der. It was chiefly occupied at this time by 

the disputes between the colonies and the 
parent country, and had but a very limited 
circulation, from all which we may conclude, 
that the people of the commonwealth gen- 
erally had very imperfect information res- 
pecting the Indian war. The inhabitants ol 
that district, whence the Southern division ol 



the army had been taken, being solicitous 
concerning their friends and acquaintances 
who were in the service) many of whom sul- 
fered in battle, did by writing and otherwise 
maintain a correspondence with persons in 
the army, by which means they became better 
acquainted with the origin, progress and con- 
sequences of this campaign, than any other 
portion of the country. But as new sceneB 
during the revolution were continually rising 
to view, the Indian affairs were soon over- 
looked and forgotten. To form a just esti- 
mate of the importance of this campaign, it 
would be necessary to consider the charac- 
ter of the Indians, their propensity to war, 
the great combined strength that they pos- 
sessed in the year 1774, the indications which 
they had manifested of hostile intentions, the 
efforts used by British traders to urge them 
on to war, the defenceless state of the fron- 
tier, the distracted condition of the provinces 
in apprehension of war with great Britain; 
all these things being duly considered must 
unquestionably lead to the conclusion, that 
the battle of Point Pleasant, taken in con- 
nection with the treaty which immediately 
followed, constituted the first act in the great 
drama of the revolution ; that it had an im- 
portant bearing on all subsequent acts of that 
tragedy; that it materially and immediately 
influenced the destinies of our country and 
more remotely the destinies of many other 
countries, perhaps of the whole world. For 
about this time there had gone forth a spirit 
of enquiry whose object was to ascertain the 
rights of man, the source of legitimate gov- 
ernment, to diffuse political information and 
to put down all tyranny, oppression and mis- 
rule. This spirit also emanated to other 
countries, and although encumbered with ex- 
travagance and folly, which have doubtless 
marred its progress in some degree, it has 
nevertheless done much to correct abuses in 
government and ameliorate the condition of 
man. This spirit it is believed is still ope- 
rating throughout the world and it is hoped 
will continue its operations until all rulers 
shall be actuated by justice and benevolence 
and all subjects by a dutiful subordination, 
thus harmoniously co-operating in effect- 
ing a political reformation throughout the 
world. 

It is much to be regretted thai a complete 
history of this campaign has never been given 



2"> 



194 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



to the public. Several writers have noticed 
it incidentally or given a meagre outline, but 
no one, it is believed, lias entered into those 
circumstantial details which alone give in- 
terest to such a work. And now, after so 
great a lapse of years, it would be impossible 
to collect materials for this purpose. Never- 
theless, after some examination of the subject, 
the writer of these notes is induced to believe 
that by industry much information might yet 
be gleaned from various sources, enough it is 
thought to form a volume more satisfactory 
than anything heretofore published. Will not 
some capable hand undertake the task ? * Sel- 
dom has the pen of the historian been employ- 
ed on an enterprise productive of so many im- 
portant and beneficial results, accomplished 
in so short a time by so small a military force. 
A thousand and seventy soldiers, under Gen- 
eral Andrew Lewis, [12th of September, 
1774,] left their rendezvous at Camp Union 
in Greenbriar, and having marched more than 
a hundred and fifty miles through a pathless 
forest and mountainous wilderness, on the 
10th of October, eucountered and defeated 
at Point Pleasant the most formidable Indian 
confederacy ever leagued against western 
Virginia. The dead being buried and pro- 
vision made for the comfort of the wounded. 
General Lewis crossed the Ohio river and 
penetrated the country nearly to the enemy's 
towns. The defeat was so complete, that 
without hazarding another battle, the Indians 
sued for peace. A treaty of peace having 
been ratified, the General led his troops back 
to Point Pleasant. At that place he left a 
garrison and then, with the remainder of the 
troops, returned to Camp Union, having in 
about two months marched through an ene- 
my's country, in going and returning, a dis- 
tance of more than four hundred miles, de- 
feated the enemy and accomplished all the 
objects of the campaign. The whole suc- 
cess <>f the campaign is here attributed to the 
troops under General Lewis. Others were 
indeed employed. The northern division, 
fifteen or eighteen hundred strong, under 
the immediate command of Lord Bunmore, 
were expected to unite and co-operate with 
the southern. This had been stipulated when 
tin: campaign was first projected. Hut by 



(* This desideratum will probably be supplied by Lyman 
C Draper, Esq in his forthcoming ''Lives of the Pioneers "1 



the crooked policy of the perfidious governor 
the troops under his immediate command 
were kept aloof, so that no union or co-ope- 
ration could take place. The soldiers of the 
northern division, there is no doubt, would 
have been willing to share with the southern 
division any danger or difficulty, had they 
been permitted. It is also to be regretted 
that nothing has been done to perpetuate 
the memory of the victory at Point Pleasant ; 
nothing to honor the names of those who 
bled in its achievement. Here Virginia lost 
some of her noblest sons. They had united 
in the same cause, fell on the same field and 
were interred in the same grave. But no se- 
pulchral monument marks the place ; no 
stone tells where they lie ; not even a mound 
of earth has arisen to distinguish this sacred 
spot from others around. Here they have 
Iain in silence and neglect for seventy years, 
in a land which their valor had won, unsung 
by the poet, uneulogised by the historian, un- 
honored by their country. Tell it not in Gath, 
publish it not in the streets of Asealon. Let 
not the culpable neglect be known abroad. 
Will not some patriot, zealous for the honor 
of Virginia, bring this subject at an early day 
before her legislature i Let him give a faith- 
ful narrative of facts respecting these defen- 
ders of their country. The simple slory will 
be impressive ; then eloquence will not be 
wanting. Every member of that honorable 
body will be ready to exclaim, '' give honor to 
whom honor is due." Let a monument be 
erected of durable materials, under the eye 
of a skilful architect; let it he characterized 
by republican simplicity and economy; let it 
bear appropriate inscriptions of the time, oc- 
casion and names of the prominent actors, 
especially of those who Med in battle; let it 
be placed on that beautiful promontory, whose 
base is marked by the Ohio and Kanawha and 
whose bosom contains the remains of those 
whom this monument is intended to honor. 
Here it will stand conspicuous, seen from 
afar by all who navigate these great waters, 
reviving in some, half-forgotten recollections, 
in otlu rs exciting curious enquiries respect- 
ing the early discoveries, early adventurers, 
earl} 1 settlements and early wars of this west- 
ern country. This structure, designed to 
honor the memory of the dead, will reflect 
honor also on its authors, on tin 1 Slate, and 
on every ( itizen. On its face will be read in 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



195 



ages to come inscribed the names of the 
Lewises, Andrew nnd Charles, of Fleming 
and Field, of Buford, Morrow. Wood, Wil- 
son, McClanahan, Allen, Dillon, Moffett, 
Walker, Cundiff, Murray, Ward, Goldsby and 
others. 

Lord Dunmore has been strongly suspected 
of traitorous designs during this campaign. 
Disputes had for several years existed be- 
tween Great Britain and the colonies of North 
America. And now war was confidently 
expected. Even during this campaign the 
port of Boston was blockaded by a British 
squadron. Massachusetts and Virginia were 
most forward in their opposition. The gov- 
ernor had his appointment from the king of 
Great Britain, and held his office at pleasure, 
and it was presumable that should war take 
place, he would favor the interest of his sov- 
ereign. Several things occurred during the 
campaign which gave strength to the suspi- 
cions that were entertained. The plan at 
first communicated to Col. Lewis was that he 
should conduct his troops to Point Pleasant 
and there await his Excellency's arrival with 
the northern division. Instead of this the 
southern division was left in a state of uncer- 
tainty on the very borders of the enemy's 
country for several weeks, having heard noth- 
ing from his lordship all this time, exposed 
to the combinations and machinations of 
other neighboring tribes. Had the northern 
division united with the southern, as his lord- 
ship had at first promised, there would have 
been no battle. The Indians would have 
been compelled to sue for peace. And now 
after the battle, General Lewis received or- 
ders to inarch into the interior of the Indian 
country, during which march he Mas often 
surrounded by great numbers of Indians and 
was twice in one day ordered to halt, ten or 
"fifteen miles from the governor's camp. Gen- 
eral Lewis had too much firmness and good 
sense to obey the order. He knew that if 
attacked at that distance from the Redstone 
troops he could receive no support from them, 
lie chose rather to disobey his superior in 
command than risk the fate of his army. It is 
worthy of remark too that the messenger was 
the notorious Simon Girty, whose character 
was not then fully developed, but who soon 
afterwards was well known as a leader in the 
interest of the Indians, and had he not then 
been known to them as a friend, it is not 



probable that he would have ventured alone 
through their country twice in one day so 
many miles. This same Girty had been one 
of the governor's guides from Ohio river to 
Pickaway plains, where he now encamped. 
If the governor entertained traitorous designs 
he had great opportunity during this time to 
represent the certainty of war, the weakness 
of the provinces, the power of Great Britain, 
the probability that the Indians would be em- 
ployed as auxiliaries and the rewards that 
would await those that favored the royal srov- 
ernment. Let the governor's designs be 
what they might during the campaign, cer- 
tain it is that not many months elapsed be- 
fore he discovered to the world that his own 
personal and pecuniary interest weighed more 
with him than the good of the province over 
which he had been placed. Soon after this 
war commenced with great Britain. [1777. J 
General Burgoyne, by the way of lake Cham- 
plain, invaded the northern provinces. While 
approaching the frontier of New York he is- 
sued a proclamation inviting all Indians to 
join his standard. Many in the north did so, 
and it was expected that those north-west of 
Virginia would follow their example. To 
prevent this, congress ordered a military force 
to proceed to Point Pleasant. This force 
was raised chiefly in the counties of Augusta, 
Botetourt and Greenbriar, and was com- 
manded by Colonel Dickinson. He was or- 
dered to remain encamped there until the 
arrival of General Hand, a continental officer 
who was to direct their future movements. 
This army was designed as a feint to prevent 
the Indian tribes from attaching themselves 
to General Burgoyne. Whilst Dickinson's 
troops lay here, two chiefs, Cornstalk and 
Red-Hawk, with another Indian of the same 
nation, arrived at the fort. Their designs ap- 
peared to be pacific. Captain Arbuckle, the 
commander of the fort, thoughl it prudent to 
detain them as hostages for the good behavior 
of their nation, assuring them that no further 
violence should be offered them, provided the 
treaty of 1771 should still continue to be ob- 
served by their nation. A few days after, 
Elenipsico, a son of Cornstalk, arrived. lie 
was also detained as a hostage. On the day 
following, two of Dickinson's troops, named 
Hamilton and Gilmore, from what is now 
Rockbridge county, crossed the Kanawha for 
the purpose of hunting. After having left 



196 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



the river a few hundred yards they parted to 
meet at the same place in the evening. Gil- 
more returned first and whilst waiting for his 
companion was shot and scalped by an In- 
dian. When Hamilton returned, finding the 
body of Gilmore thus mangled, he called 
across the river and the body was taken over. 
This Gilmore was one of nineteen children 
of the same father and mother, and was 
brought up on the plantation now owned by 
Mr. John Wallace, on the stage road not far 
from the Natural Bridge. Nearly all of the 
nineteen lived to mature years, and most of 
them raised families. As Gilmore was highly 
esteemed among his comrades, this occur- 
rence produced great excitementin the camp. 
The troops from his immediate neighborhood 
brought over his body, "and their indigna- 
tion was excited to the highest pitch." * 
One said, " let us kill the Indians in the fort." 
This was re-iterated with loud acclamations. 
The more prudent, who attempted to advise 
against this measure, were not listened to. 
They were even threatened. In a few minutes 
the mob moved on to the fort with loaded guns. 
While approaching, the Indians were told 
what their object was. Some of them ap- 
peared alarmed and very much agitated, par- 
ticularly Elenipsico. His father desired him 
to be calm, told him that " the Great Spirit 
knew when they ought to die, better than they 
did themselves, and as they had come there 
with good intentions the Great Spirit would 
do good to them." Cornstalk arose, stood in 
the cabin door and faced the assassins as they 
approached. In a ihw moments the hosta- 
ges were all numbered with the dead. 

Il.nl the perpetrators of this crime been 
tried under the State law lor murder, or by 
martial law for mutiny, or under the law of 
nations for breach of treaty in the murder of 
hostages, or for the violation of the rules and 
rights of a public fort, in each or either case, 
had the facts been fully proven, they must have 
been judged worthy of death. It was an act 
pregnant with serious consequences. War on 
the frontier, which had now been suspended 
three years, would inevitably again take place. 
Accordingly in the month of June, 1778, two 
or three hundred Shawnees attacked the fort 
at Point Pleasant and continued to tire upon 
it lor several days, but without effect. A par- 

* Colonel Stewart. 



ley was then agreed upon between the In- 
dians and the commander of the fort. Cap- 
tain McKee, with three or four others, met as 
many Indians midway between the fort and 
the Indian encampment. The Indians avow- 
ed their intention to be revenged for the 
death of Cornstalk and those who fell with 
him. Captain McKee disavowed for himself 
and his garrison all participation in this mur- 
der and assured them that all good and wise 
men disapproved of it, that it was done in a 
moment of excitement by some imprudent 
young men and most of the officers and 
troops at the post disapproved of their con- 
duct. He represented further that the gov- 
ernor of Virginia had issued a proclamation 
naming certain persons who were guilty of 
this outrage, and offering a reward for bring- 
ing them to justice. Part of the Indians ap- 
peared satisfied with the representation of 
Captain McKee and returned to their towns ; 
another part were not satisfied, but remained 
still bent on revenge. These moved offslowly 
up the Kanawha. After they had all disap- 
peared, two soldiers from the garrison were 
sent to keep in their wake and watch their 
movements. But these were discovered by 
the Indians and fired on. They then returned 
to the fort and were not willing to resume 
this perilous undertaking. Much perplexity 
existed now among the officers. The garri- 
son had been placed here for the defence of 
the frontier, and a strong party of Indians 
had now passed them and were evidently ad- 
vancing against the settlements, and would 
attack them without a moment's warning, 
unless a messenger could be sent from the 
fort. Enquiry being made who were willing 
to go, two soldiers volunteered their ser- 
vices, — Philip Hammon and John Pryor. 
The Indians were now far in advance, no 
time was to be lost and little was wanted for 
preparation. The rifle, tomahawk, shot- 
pouch, with its contents and appendages, and 
blanket wore always in readiness. A few 
pounds of portable provisions were soon at 
hand and now they were ready lor their jour- 
ney. There happened at this time to be 
within the fort a female Indian, called the 
grenadier squaw, sister to the celebrated 
Cornstalk, and like him known to be partic- 
ularly averse to war. On learning the des- 
tination of these two spies, she offered her 
services to disguise them, so that if they 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



197 



should meet with the Indians they should not 
be recognized as whites. She accordinglj 
gave them the Indian costume from head to 
heel, and painted their faces with dark and 
lurid streaks and figures, such as indicate an 
Indian warrior going forth bent on deeds of 
death and destruction. Thus equipped, at- 
tired and ornamented, they set out on their 
long, fatiguing and perilous journey, during 
which they must endure the burning sun and 
drenching rains of the season. Brooks and 
rivers were to be waded, extensive and 
gloomy forests were to be traversed; pre- 
cipitous hills and craggy mountain-places, 
where no man dwelt, were to be passed over 
with hasty step. The wolf, the bear, the 
panther and rattlesnake had, from time im- 
memorial, held sway over this inhospitable 
region. Nor was this all ; a numerous body 
of hostile Indians, thirsting for white men's 
blood, were known to be at this conjunc- 
ture, on the very path that the spies were 
to travel. Less than half of the difficulties 
and dangers here enumerated would have 
appalled most men, but to these chivalrous 
sons of the mountains, "The dangers self 
were lure alone." They were well aware 
that the success of the enterprise depended 
upon the celerity of its execution, that if 
they by forced marches should he able to 
overtake and pass the enemy undiscovered, 
and by entering the settlement first should 
apprise the inhabitants of the impending dan- 
ger, thereby giving them opportunity to for- 
tify and defend themselves, all might be well ; 
but if this strong body of the enemy should 
take the country by surprise, massacre, cap- 
tivity and dispersion must follow, and the dis- 
solution of the whole settlements. Enter- 
taining these views, they set out with ardor, 
and persevered with steadiness, losing no 
time through the day with loitering, they made 
their bodily strength the measure of their 
performance, and when the shades of even- 
ing admonished them that the season of rest 
was at hand, drawing upon their scanty stock, 
they partook of a coarse and frugal but 
strengthening and comfortable repast, for to 
the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. 
This ended, and having drunk ofaneighbor- 
ing stream, their next care was to find a wide- 
spreading oak, or beech, or a projecting rock 
which might shelter them from the chilling 
dews of night. And now each of them, like 



the patriarch of old, took one of the stones 
of the place Ibr his pillow, and being wrapped 
in his blanket, laid himself down along-side 
of his rifle, conscious of having performed 
the duties of the day and void of care they 
gave themselves to sleep. Here no wakeful 
sentinels, walking his nightly rounds, guard- 
ed the camp; no fantastic visions nor terrific 
dreams disturbed their rest. Wild beasts, 
which the light of day awed into obscurity, 
had now crept from their dens and lurking 
places and were roaming abroad prowling 
for prey, uttering a thousand cries, and hide- 
ous screams, and dismal bowlings, through- 
out the shadowy gloom of these interminable 
forests. Yet neither did these interrupt the 
repose of the two disguised soldiers. They 
were yet far in the rear of the enemy, but by 
observing his encampments, soon found that 
they were gaining ground, and in a Uw days 
that they were approaching his main body. 
This caused a sharp look-out. Relying on 
vigilance, circumspection and stratagem, they 
did not relax their speed, but carefully recon- 
noitercd every hill and valley, every brake, 
glen and defile. At length one morning 
about ten o'clock, whilst descending Scwel 
mountain on its eastern side, and when near 
to its base, the enemy was descried near half 
a mile distant, on McClung's plantation, kill- 
ing hogs for their breakfast. The spies now 
diverged from the path which they had been 
pursuing, and making a small circuit, so as to 
allow the enemy sufficient elbow-room, or as 
a seaman would say, give him a good berth, 
that he might enjoy his feast. Thus they 
passed undiscovered and soon reached the 
settlement in safety. At the first house they 
experienced some difficulty, having entirely 
the appearance of Indian warriors. lint by 
giving a circumstantial account of the object 
of their visit, and especially as they were able 
to do this in unbroken English, they soon 
gained credence and were recognized as 
friends. Measures were now taken to alarm 
the settlement, and before night all the in- 
habitants were assembled in Colonel Donal- 
Iv's dwelling-house. This building which 
had heretofore been the tranquil residence of 
;i private family ami which bad been charac- 
terized by its friendship and hospitality to 
all who entered it, must now become the 
theatre of war and be made familiar with 
tragic seems and events. The prospect 



198 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



must indeed have been gloomy. All the in- 
habitants of the settlement were collected in 
one house to be defended by a few men, very 
few in proportion to the number of the ene- 
my about to attack them. They, however, 
were well acquainted with the tactics of In- 
dian warfare and the use of their arms. Every 
man had full confidence in himself and his 
fellows. Now preparations were made for a 
siege or an assault. Every instrument of 
death which could be found was put in re- 
quisition, prepared in the best manner and 
placed where it could be most readily seized 
when wanted. A strict watch was kept 
through the night, but no enemy had yet ap- 
peared. The second day passed off in like 
manner. On the second night most of the 
men went to the second story, having slept 
none for nearly forty-eight hours. In the latter 
part of the night they became drowsy and 
when daylight began to appear were all in a 
profound sleep. Only three men were on the 
lower floor, — Hammon, one of the spies, a 
white servant and a black servant of Colonel 
Donally. At daybreak the white servant 
opened the door, that he might bring in some 
firewood. He had gone but a few stops from 
the house when he was shot down. The In- 
dians now sprang from their concealment in 
the edge of the rye-field near to the house, 
and rushing in a body, attempted to enter the 
door. * Hammon and the black servant Dick 
made an effort to secure it, but failing in this 
they placed their shoulders against a hogs- 
head of water which stood behind, and which 
they had drawn nearer to the door. But the 
Indians commenced chopping with theirtom- 
ahawks and had actually cut through the door 
and were also pressing to force it open. Hav- 
ing already made a partial opening, Dick 
fearing that they might succeed in gaining 
their purpose, left Hammon at his post and 
seizing a musket which stood near, loaded 
with heavy slugs, discharged it through the 
opening among the crowd. The Indians 
now fell hack and the door was secured. By 
this time the men on the second story had 
shaken off their slumbers and were every 
man at his pest, pouring down the shot upon 
the enemy, lie, finding his quarters too 
warm, scampered off with all possible speed 

» Colonel Stewart says thai there was a kind ol stockade 
fort around the house and that it was the kitchen door which 
l.he Indians attacked. 



to a distant point where he could find shelter. 
One boy alone fell behind. He at the first 
onset wishing to unite his fortune with that 
of his seniors, hastened to the door, hoping 
no doubt to participate in the massacre which 
he expected to follow, or at least to have the 
pleasure of witnessing it. Having been dis- 
appointed in this and now unable to keep 
pace with his friends in their retreat and fear- 
ing that a ball from the fort might overtake 
him, he turned aside and sheltered himself in 
the lower story of an old building which 
stood near, uttering through the day many 
dolorous cries and lamentations. One of the 
garrison, who knew something of the Indian 
tongue, invited him into the fort with an as- 
surance of safety. But he, doubtless, sus- 
pected in others what he would be likely to 
practice himself, and what the whites had al- 
ready practiced on the noble-hearted Corn- 
stalk and his fellow sufferers, and declined 
the invitation, and awaiting the darkness of 
the night escaped to his friends. The In- 
dians continued to fire on the fort occasion- 
ally during the day, and succeeded in killing 
one man through a crevice in the wall. * 

At this time the population of Greenbrier 
was composed of isolated settlements, sep- 
arated by intervals of uncultivated country. 
The settlement near to Fort Donnally, called 
the Meadows, did not at this time contain 
many inhabitants. On the first alarm, a mes- 
senger was sent to the Lewisburg settlement, 
fifteen or eighteen miles distant. This mes- 
senger was the person killed on the next 
morning after he returned to Donally's as he 
went out to get firewood. By the activity of 
Col. Samuel Lewis and Col,. John Stew art, a 
force of sixty or seventy armed men was 
ready to march on the third morning, the 
very morning on which the fort was attacked. 
They, to avoid any ambush of the enemy, 
left \\ic direct road and took a circuitous 
route, and when they arrived opposite the 
fort turned across and concealing themselves 
by passing through a rye-field, all entered 
with safety. There was now much room for 
congratulation that the garrison had bravely 
defended themselves, and that they were now 
SO much strengthened that they could bid 

* Colonel Stewart says that i his man's name was ( iraham 
and that they also killed James Burns and Alexandei Och- 
iltree early in the morning a3 they were coming to the 
house. 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



199 



defiance to their enemies. The Indians now I and peril during a journey on foot of little 
saw themselves baffled and disappointed. less than two hundred miles, through a moun- 



They had made alongjourney with the avow- 
ed purpose of avenging the death of their 
chiefs. They now determined to raise the 
siege and return home. Dejected and cha- 
grined, their number diminished, encumber- 
ed with the wounded, they retreated with 
slow and melancholy reluctance. For some 
years now the Indians had been unsuccess- 
ful on the frontier of Virginia. [1774.] They 
were roughly handled and driven back into 
their own country. [1777.] Their chiefs 
were murdered, and now [1778] they were 
beaten off with loss * and disgrace. Not a 
scalp as a trophy of bravery, not a prisoner 
whom they might immolate to quiet the manes 
of their deceased friends. 

Although the enemy retreated slowly, the 
garrison did not think themselves strong 
enough to pursue. The inhabitants now re- 
turned to their homes without apprehension 
of danger. 

But where are the spies ? What has been 
done for them ? When one of the most il- 
lustrious monarchs of the East had discover- 
ed a plot against his own life, wishing to re- 
ward the individual who had disclosed the 
treason, he enquired of his chief counsellor, 
•'• What shall be done to the man whom the 
king delighteth to honor?" The counsellor 
in substance replied as follows, that the great- 
est honor which royalty could bestow, con- 
sistent with its own sovereignty and inde- 
pendence, should be conferred on the man 
whom the king delighted to honor. In ac- 
cordance witli this advice, a royal decree was 
issued and the same counsellor was charged 
with its execution and it was executed in the 
most public manner. Among the Romans 
civic honors were decreed to him who had 
saved the life of a citizen. These honors 
were the greatest which the government had 
in its power to bestow. II ere we see that 
two of the greatest empires that the world 
has ever seen, bestowed the highest honors 
on him who saved the life of another. But 
what was tin' conduct of these spies? They 

subjected themselves to fatigue and privation 



* The amount of their loss was not ascertained, nor their 
whole number. ('"I. Slew mi s ij ,-., " seventeen ol the en 
emy lay ilc.nl in the yard when we got m." They ma) 
have taken the scalps <il Burns ami Ochiltree mi 
in i previous note. 



tainous, uninhabited wilderness, to save from 
destruction not one or two or a i'f\v individ- 
uals, but a whole community, the entire pop- 
ulation of Greenbriar and they were suc- 
cessful. And what reward have they recei- 
ved ? None either honorary or pecuniary. 
Certain it is that for some time alter the at- 
tack on fort Donally their names were men- 
tioned with much eclat and no doubt the in- 
habitants of Greenbriar would exercise to- 
ward them their usual courtesy and hospital- 
itv. But gratitude is not a perennial plant. 
Did the government reward them? At that 
time the government of Virginia was (idly 
occupied in defending her Eastern frontier 
against a foreign enemy. But had the case 
of the spies been represented to the legisla- 
ture, their names would have been recorded 
with honorable mention of their services and 
themselves made pensioners for life. The 
black servant, Dick, was more fortunate. 
His case came before the legislature and his 
freedom was decreed. It is pleasing to 
know, that Dick lived near threescore years 
after this, respected for bis industry, probity 
and other civic virtues. 

But to return to the savages : their desire 
of revenge was not yet satiated. The manes 
of their slaughtered chiefs had not yet been 
quieted. No doubt they reproached them- 
selves with their dilatory performance of the 
paramount duty ol' retaliation. 



"Whilst great Cornstalk's shade complained that they were 

slow, 
Ami Red-Hawk's ghost walked unrevenged amongst them." 

Hoping for better fortune, they now tinned 
their arms against the infant settlement of 
Kentucky, in which they were lamentably 
successful. At the Blue Licks fell many of 
the flower of the population. Many too 
were destroyed in boats descending the Ohio 
river and much property was lost. For 
many years this destructive mode of war con- 
tinued. The campaigns of Harmer and St. 
Clair £ave but little respite; in the latter ol 
these, Kentuckj again lost some of her bra- 
vest sons. The establishment of a chain of 
post- from Cincinnati to Lake Erie; the 
victorj gained by the United States troops 
under General VVayne, near to Detroit, over 
a confederacy of Indian tribes; and a treaty 



200 



HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



of peace with those tribes, which soon fol- 
lowed, at least gave repose to the frontier 
settlements. The wise, liberal and pacific 
policy of Washington and most of his suc- 
cessors toward the Indian nations ; and the 
frequent purchases from different tribes of 
Indians of larger portions of their lands for 
pecuniary considerations ; and the establish- 
ment of strong garrisons of United States 
troops in different parts of the Western 
country ; — -have done much to check wars 
between the tribes of Indians, and to pre- 
vent their assaults upon the white settle- 
ments. The surrender of fort Detroit also 
had a similar tendency. No serious injury 
was ever apprehended from the Western In- 
dians, after the victory achieved by General 
Wayne, unless when confederated with some 
foreign power. By the extinguishment of 
Indian titles to their lands, tribes and rem- 
nants of tribes have been seen every year 
removing Westward, choosing rather the 
neighborhood of the beaver and buffalo, than 
that of the white man. And what is now 
the situation of that country ? And what 
was its situation when Wayne gained his 
victory ? Could any one of the thousands 
of his army possessing the most vivid, or if 
you please, the most eccentric imagination, 
have been able to command a full view of 
the countries bounded by the Ohio, the Mis- 
sissippi and the great lakes, could such an 
one have anticipated the results that have 
since taken place ? Then that whole re- 
gion was claimed and possessed by hordes 
of lawless, half-starved savages, gaining a 
meagre subsistence by the chase and de- 
lighting in blood and plunder. Could such 
an one have supposed, that in less than half 
a century the whole of this wide-spread re- 
gion would be inhabited by a civilized popu- 
lation in the full tide of prosperity ? In a 
very law years after Wayne's victory, emi- 
grants from the Northern Slates, from Vir- 
ginia, Kentucky and other portions of our 
country covered most of the Eastern part of 
this large region. Where crew bile had been 
the Indian wigwam and encampments, now 
might be seen farm-houses, barns and other 
buildings; plantations laid off into fields, all 
those grains and grasses and domestic ani- 
mals which contribute so much to tin- sub- 
sistence and comfort of man ; verdant, pas- 
tures, flowering meadows, bending orchard:; 



and yellow harvest-fields of luxuriant grain 
surpassing in beauty all other crops. Also 
were distributed over the country work-shops 
in which various mechanical occupations were 
pursued for domestic purposes. The enter- 
prise of the citizens was evident too from their 
eagerness in accomplishing facilities for in- 
tercourse between different parts of the Slate 
and also with other States, such as canals, 
roads, &c, which received their early atten- 
tion. Villages and towns too have sprung 
up with great rapidity, and cities, which vie 
in splendor, magnitude and commercial rich- 
es with those of the Atlantic States. Schools 
also and academies and colleges and church- 
es and learned societies and periodical pub- 
lications and printing establishments, every- 
where to be found, show the taste of the peo- 
ple for improvement. The country from the 
fertility of its soil and industry of its inhab- 
itants, besides supplying the wants of a nu- 
merous population, yields an immense sur- 
plus for exportation. The trade on the riv- 
ers and lakes is chiefly in vessels of magni- 
tude, equal to those that traverse the Atlan- 
tic, propelled not by wind, or tide, or current, 
but moving often with great velocity and 
with heavy burthens, in a direction contrary 
to all these forces and entirely overcoming 
them — and this by an invention of modern 
origin and entirely American. This immense 
region of country extending from the Ohio 
to the great. Lakes and to the Mississippi on 
the West, is now covered by a civilized pop- 
ulation and divided into four separate in- 
dependent republican governments, each 
managing its own internal concerns and 
each united with the other States of the 
American Union, for general purposes. Can 
any man review the state of things in that 
immense region from the year 1791 until the 
present time and cease to wonder at the un- 
accountable transformations that have taken 
place in the face of the country, popula- 
tion and improvements? Very similar great 
changes have taken place in the great States 
of Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Mis- 
souri, nearly in the same time and from the 
same causes. Nothing appears more extra- 
ordinary, unless it be that the great valley of 
the Mississippi should have remained so to- 
tally unknown until the close of the 18th 
century. 



CORRIGENDA. 



Page 5th, left-hand column, 15th line from the 
bottom: — "A violent storm raging for four days 
dispersed and shattered Drake's fleet and destroyed 
the vessels that had been assigned to Lane." This 
is inaccurate; the vessels referred to were only 
blown off to sea and probably afterwards rejoined 
the fleet, although this is not mentioned. 

Page 32nd, left-hand column, 25ih line from the 
top : — For, " the governor sate in the choir, on a 
green velvet cushion, laid on a table before him, on 
which he knelt,'' read, " The governor sate in the 
choir, on a chaire, with a cloath, with a green vel- 
vet cushion laid on a table before him, on which he 
knelt." 

Page 37th, right-hand column, 9th line from the 
bottom: — " This, it is said, was the first instance of 
raising money by this mode [lottery] in England." 
By an authority which I had not seen when the 
above was printed, I have learned that a lottery 
was drawn in England for the purpose of raisin^a 
fund for repairing the harbors of the kingdom, as 
early as 1569. See Anderson's History of the 
Colonial Church, Vol. 1, p. 271, in note. This is 
an elaborate and instructive work. 

Page 38th, left-hand column, 4th line from the 
bottom : — For " Rev. Mr. Mays," read, " Rev. Mr. 
Mease." 

Page 41st, left-hand column, in note : — " And I 
think I have somewhere seen that he died about the 
mouth of Delaware Bay, which thence took its 
name from him." Stith 148, Belknap, v. 2, p. 
115-16. Stith fell into an error on this point and 
Belknap followed him in it. Delaware Bay, (the 



month of the river called by the Indians Chicka- 
hocki) and river, were so named in 1611, when 
Lord Delaware put in there, on his homeward 
voyage. 1. Anderson's History of the Colonial 
Church, pp. 271, 311. 

Page 62nd, left-hand column, 10th line from the 
bottom : — For "expelled Lord Baltimore from Ma- 
ryland," read, "expelled Leonard Calvert, brother 
of Lord Baltimore and his deputy Governor, from 
Maryland." And 8th line, for" Baltimore who had 
fled to Virginia," read, "Calvert who had fled to 
Virginia." 

Page 89th, left-hand column, 2nd line from the 
bottom, in note : — For " governor of South Caro- 
lina," read, "governor of North Carolina." 

Page 106th, right-hand column, 11th line from 
the bottom, in note: — For "Major John Spots- 
wood," read, " Captain John Spotswood," and left- 
hand column, 23rd line from top, for Edward Jen- 
nings, read Edmund. 

Page 107th, right-hand column, 15th line from 
the bottom, in note : — For " there are no Stores," 
read, " there are no Stones." 

Page 113th, left-hand column, 11th line from the 
bottom :— For " 100,000," read, " 500,000." 

Page 118th, left-hand column, 7th line from the 
top: — For " at Bridge's Creek on the Potomac," 
read, " on the banks of Pope's Creek near where 
it empties into the Potomac." 

Page 119th, right-hand column, 21th line from 
the top : — For " after an absence of eleven days," 
read, "after an absence of eleven weeks." 



INDEX. 



Alexandria, Braddock quartered at, - - 121 

Andros. Sir Edmund, succeeds Nicholson as Governor 

of Virginia, - 102 

Sent prisoner to England, - - 102 

Argall, Capt. Samuel, captures Pocahontas, - - 3 J 

His expedition against the French in Acadia, 35 

Reduces Dutch fort at Manhattan, - 36 

Appointed Governor of Virginia, 40 
His tyranny and departure from Virginia, - 41-42 

Is knighted, - - 42 

Arnold, Benedict, invades Virginia, - - 167 16^ 

Returns to Portsmouth, - - 169 

Joins Phillips in second invasion, - 170 

Succeeds Phillips, - - 170 

Lafayette refuses to correspond with, 170 

Returns to New York, - - 173 

Assembly of Virginia, first held, - - 45 
Petitions the King, - 52 
The holding of disallowed by Charles I., 53 
Charles 1. desires Assembly to be called, - 53 
Declaration of against the restoration of the Vir- 
ginia Company, - - GO 
Loyalty of, - - 64 
Supreme power claimed by, - - 73 
Sends Address to Charles II., - 75 
Demonstrations of Loyalty, - - 75-70 
Proceedings of, during Bacon's Rebellion, 86-87 
Journals of, siezed by King's commissioners, 94 
Acts passed by, styled " Bacon's Laws," repealed, 95 
Culpepper calls an Assembly, - - 97 
Robert Beverley, clerk of, persecuted by the Gov- 
ernment, - - - 97 
Opposes the Governor's negative, - - 99 
Is prorogued, - - - 99 
Proceedings of, - 100 
Nicholson refuses to call an Assembly, - 101 
Grants aid to New York, - - - 102 
Acts of, during Null's Administration, - 100 
Spotswood dissolves, - - 100 
Again dissolves that body, - - - 108 
Spotswood prorogues, - - 100 
Makes appropriation for raising troops, - 111 
Loyalty of, - - - 111 
Passes Relief Acts, - - 128-129 
Resolutions of, against Stamp-Act, - 135 
Washington, a member of, - - 128 
Thanks of, given to Washington, - - 128 
Remonstrates against proceedings of British Gov- 
ernment, - - - 139 
Botetourt dissolves, 1 10 
Botetourt calls together, - - 1 10 
Disapproves of scheme of American Episcopate, I 10 
Proceedings of, - - - 111 
Votes thanks to Dunrnore for his conduct of Indian 
War, - - 11"' 
Jefferson, member of, - - 147 



PAGE 

Meets for first time after commencement of Revo- 
lutionary War, - - - 101 
Acts of, - - - 102 
Thanks of, returned to R. H.Lee, - 102 
James Madison, Jr., member of, - 167 

Bacon, Nalhanii 1, Jr. His servant and overseer slain 

by the Indians, - - 82 
Chosen leader of Insurgents, - - 82 
Solicits commission from Governor Berkley, 82 
He and his followers proclaimed Rebels and pur- 
sued by Berkeley, - - 83 
Rebellion not the result of pique or ambition in 
Bacon, - - - 83 
Marches into the wilderness and massacres a tribe 
of Indians, - - - - 83 
Returning is elected a Burgess for Henrico, - 83 
Arrested, .... 83 
Released on parole, - - 84 
Sues for pardon, - - - HI 
Restored to seat in Council, - - 85 
Berkeley issues secret warrants for his arrest, H.'i-Vi 
Bacon escapes, - 85 
Re-enters Jamestown and extorts a commission, 85 86 
Marches against the Pamunkies, - - ^7 
Countermarches against the Governor, - 88 
Calls a Convention at Middle Plantation, - 88 
Exterminates the Indians from frontier, - 88-91 
Marches upon Jamestown, - - 91 
Puts the Governor to flight, - - 92 
Burns Jamestown, - - 91-92 
Dies, - - - 92 
Punishment of his adherents, - 93-91-95 

Bacon, Nathaniel, Sr., member of Council, t~'5 

Member ol Com Martial during the Rebellion, 93 

President of Council, - - 101 

Bacon Quarter Branch, - - -112 

Baltimore, George land, visits Virginia and procures 

grant of territory from Charles I., - 55 

Baltimore, Cecums Lord, Patent ol territory devolved 

on hi n by ins father's death, - - 57 
Employs Ins brother Leonard Calvert to settle 

Colony of Catholics in Maryland, - 57 

Virginia opposes the settlement ol Maryland, 57 

Bapl ists in Virginia, - - 138 

Blair's Letter respecting, - - 139 

Batte, Capt. Henry. His expedition across the moun- 
tains, - - - 78 

Banister, Col. John, - -170 

Benni t, Rich ird, a non-conformist, persecuted in \ ir- 

ginia removes to Maryland, - - 65 
One of P. ii liamentary commissioners for reducing 

\ irginia, - - - 66 
Together with Clay Koine reduces Maryland under 

authority of Commonwealth of Engliiid, - 69 

( lovei nor ol Vit ginia, - - 09 

Agent of Virginia at London, - - 71 



INDEX. 



IV 



PAGE 

Berkeley, Sir William, succeeds Wyatt as Gov- 
ernor of Virginia, - . 59-60 
Issues proclamation against Nonconformists, 60 
Captures Opechancanough, - - 61 
His generosity to Royalist refugees, - 66 
Forced to surrender the Colony to Parlamentary 
forces, . 67 
Goes into retirement, - . 69 
Elected by Assembly, Governor, - 74 
Errors of historians regarding his election, 73-74 
Charles IF. sends new commission to, - 75 
Enormous emoluments of, - -76 
Superintends Albemarle Colony - - 77 
His statistics of Virginia, - . 79 
His imbecility in defending the colony against the 
Indians, - - - - 80 
Bacon solicits commission from, - - 82 
Proclaims Bacon and his followers rebels, - 83 
Releases Bacon from imprisonment, , 84-85 
Issues secret warrants to arrest Bacon, 85 
Bacon extorts commission from, - - 8586 
Summons Gloucester militia, 87 
Escapes to Accomao, . . .88 
Returns to Jamestown, - - 91 
Escapes from Jamestown, . - 92 
His recall and death, - . 95 
Bermudas, wreck of Sea- Venture on coast of, - 25 
Beverley, Robert, Clerk of Assembly, persecution 

of ' 97-99-100 

Beverly. Robert, author of History of Virginia, 103-107 

Blackbeard the Pirate, his atrocities and death, - 108 
Blair, Rev. James, Commissary, procures charter for 

College of William and Mary, - . ]ol 

First President of College of William & Mary, 101 

Blair, John, President of Council, . 138-139 

Bland, Col. Theodk., has charge of Convention troops, 164 

Bland, Richard, letter of, to clergy, . 128 

Enquiry into Rights of Colonies, . 137-138 

Member of Committee of Correspondence, 141 

Delegate to Congress, - . 14 [ 

Member of Committee of Safety, - 15] 

Death of - _ . , .,, 

Botetourt, Lord, Governor of Virginia, - 139-Ho 

Braddock, Gen., expedition of, against Fort DuQuesne, 121 

Defeat at, Battleof Monongahela and death, 122-3 

Braxton, Carter, interposes to prevent Henry's march, 149 

Member of Committee of Safety, . 15] 

Signer of Declaration of Independence, 159-100 

Bridge Great, Battle of, - 152-123 

Burden's Grant, . . . 1 ,n 

Burgoyne, Gen., surrenders at Saratoga, . 163 

Burwell, Lewis, President of Council, ' . 117 

Byrd, Col. W„i., Sr., of Wpstover, , H3 

His generosity to the Huguenots, . J01 

Byrd, Col. W m ., of Westover, commands a Virginia 

regiment, - ,„, 

Cabell, William, " - - 151 

Camm, Rev. John, opposed the " two-penny Act," 129 
Comm.ssary, . , ,,, 

Campbell, Col. Wm., defeats Ferguson at King's Moun- 

,i,m ' - 160 

Carr, D.ibney, - . m , . , 

Carrington, Paul, - . . 1=1 

Carter, John, ... - 2 

Carter, Robt., President of Council, . m 

Carter, Charles, of Shirley, . . I51 

Gary, Archibald, • - . . . j^j 



Charles I. Pursues his father's colonial policy, - 52 
Dissallows Assemblies in Virginia, - 53 

Desires an Assembly to be called, - 53 

Appoints Council of Superintendence for Virginia, 58 
Grants to Clayborne a license for discovery and 
trade, - . - 57 

Re-instates Sir John Harvey as Governor, 58 

Replies to Assembly of Virginia, - 60 

Overthrown at Naseby, - 62 

Executed, - - 62 

Charles II. Intelligence of his restoration received in 

Virginia, - 75 

Transmits new commission to Berkeley, 75 

Grants the territory of Virginia to Arlington and 
Culpepper, . . 79 

Charter granted to London Company, - 9 

Of Virginia Company dissolved, - 52 

Virginia fails to procure a new, - 96 

Cherokees, party of, visits Williamsburg, - 117 

Reduced to submission, - 161 

Invaded by Col. Shelby, - 164 

Chicheley, Sir Henry, appointed to command expedi- 
tion against the Indians, - 80 
Governor of Virginia, - - 96 
Church at Jamestown, - - 31-32 
Church of England, conformity to, required in Vir- 
ginia, ... 46-55-56 
Church, condition of, in Virginia in 1661, - 75 
Laws concerning, - - 76-7 
Statistics of, - - 98-99 
Dissent from, - - 114-117 
Ministers of, oppose "The Two-Penny Act," 128-131 
Clarke, Gen. George R., captures St. Vincennes, 163-164 
Clayborne, William, Secretary of Virginia, effects a 

settlement on Kent Island, - 57 

Excites disturbance in Maiyland, - 58 

Convicted of high crimes, escapes to) Virginia, 58 
Sent to England for trial, - 58 

Expels Calvert from Maryland and usurps the 
government, - - - 62 

One of the Parliamentary commissioners for redu- 
cing Virginia, * - 66 
Assists Bennet in reducing Maryland, - 66-69 
Authorized to make discoveries of the country, 70 
Together with Bennet siezes the government of 
Maryland, - - - 70 
Displaced from office of Secretary of Virginia, 76 
Member of Court-Martial held for trial of Ba- 
con's adherents, - - 93 
College of William & Mary, 101-106-109-110-114-140-107 
Cornwallis invades Va., • - 172 
Pursues Lafayette, - - 173 
Airives at Point of Fork, - - 175 
Devastations committed by, - 175 
Retires to lower country and is pursued by LaFay- 
ette, - - 175-176 
Fortifies Yorktown, is besieged and capitulates, 177-178 
Cromwell. Oliver, dissolves the Long Parliament, 70 
Declared Protector, - - 70 
His toll unit views regarding the government of 
Maryland, - - 70 
His letter to Maryland Commissioners, - 71 
Death of, - - 72 
Condition of Va. during his protectorate, - 73 
Cromwell. Richard, succeeds to the protectorate, 72 
Recognized bj Va. Assembly, - 72 
Resigns, - - 73 



INDEX. 



Culloden, prisoners taken at, sent to Vu., - 99 

Culpepper, Thomas Lord, Governor of Va., 96-100 

Dale, Sir Thomas, Governor of Va., brings over a 

Code of Martial-Law, - - 33 

Founds the Town of Henrico, - 33 

His expedition up York river, • 34 

Dandridge, Capt., - - HI 

Dandridge, Bartholomew, - - 154 

Dare, Virginia, first child born in the Roanoke colony, 6 
Davies, Rev. Samuel, settles in Hanover, - 116 

His zeal and eloquence greatly extends Presby- 
terianism in the colony of Va. - 1 10-117 

His remarkable allusion to Washington, - 123 

His patriotism, eloquence and popularity, 124126 

Delaware, Lord, first Governor of Va., - 32 

Returns to England, - - 33 

Embarks for Va and dies during the voyage, 31 

Dennis, Capt. Robert, one of the commissioners for 
reducing Virginia under authority of the Long 
Parliament, - - 06 

Arrives at Jamestown in command of a naval force, 67 
Compels the colony to surrender, • 07 

Digges, Edward, elected Governor of Va., - 71 

One of the agents of Va at London - 72 

Digges, Dudley, - - 141 

Dinvuddie, Robert, Lieut. Governor of Va., - 118 

Dissenters in Va., - - 114-117 

Drummond, William, - - 88-95 

Drysdale, Hugh, Lieut. Governor of Va., - 110-111 
Dumnore, Earl of, Governor of Va., - 141 

Dissolves the Assembly, - 141 

Indian war, of. - - 142144-145 

Removes gunpowder from Magazine, - 148-149 
Further disturbances, - 149150 

Retires on board the Fowey, - 150 

Hostilities with, - - 152-153 

Predatory warfare, - 153-100 

DuQuesne, fort, so called after a French Governor of 

Canada, - - 120 

Braddoek's expedition against, - 121-123 

Captured by Gen. Forbes, - 127 

Called Fort Pitt, - - 127 

Effingham, Lord Howard, of Governor of Va., - 98 

His corruption and tyranny, - - 100 

Fauquier, Francis, Governor of Va. • 127-138-147 

Ferguson, Col., British eommander, killed at the Bat- 
tle of King's Mountain, - - 166 
An expert marksman, - - 166 
Ferrer. Nicholas, Deputy Treasurer of Va. Company, 51 
Frnley, Rev. Samuel, visits Va. - - 115 
Forbes, Gen., captures Fort DuQuesne - 127 
Fredericksburg, Smith explores the Rappahannock 

to the site of, ... 19 

Troops assembled at, - - 148 

Fresh, Great, in James river in 1771, - 1 10-141 

Pry, Col. Joshua, - - - 119-120 

Gates, Sir Thomas, Governor of Va., - 25-31-32 

Gazette, Va.. first published, - - 112 

Gates, Horatio, serves under Braddock, - 121 

Burgoyne surrenders to, at Saratoga, - 163 

Defeated at Camden, - - 165-100 

Germans settle Valley of Shenandoah, - 113 

On the banks of the Rapidan, - - 107 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, ... 3 

Gooch, Wm., Governor of Va., - - 111 

Commands colonial troops in expedition against 



PAGE 

Carthagena, - - - HI 

His measures against Dissenters, - 116 

Gosnold, Bartholomew, Prime mover in settlement of 

Jamestown Colony, - - - 9 

His voyage to New England, - - 9 

Grenville, Sir Richard's expedition to Va., - 4 

Returns to England, - - - 5 

His heroic death, - - • "<! 

Greenspring settled on Sir Wm. Berkley, - 78 

Plundered by Rebels, during Bacon's Rebellion, 91 
Assembly held at 9j 

Hamer, Ralph, visits Powhatan, - - 30-37 

Hansford, one of Bacon's adherents, executed, - 83 
Harrison, Jr. Benjamin, of Berkeley, member of Com- 
mittee of Correspondence, - - 141 
Delegate to Congress, - - HI 
Signer of Declaration of Independence, - 155 
Harvey, Sir John, succeeds Pott as Governor of Vir- 
ginia, ... - 5a 
Gives away large bodies of Va. territory, - 58 
His corruption and tyranny, - - 58 
Deposed and returns to England to answer charges, 58 
Re instated by Charles 1st, - - 58-59 
Henry, Jr. Patrick, his speech in "the Parson's 

cause," - - - 130-131 

His early life and education, - 131-134 

Resolutions of, against Stamp Act, - 135-136 

Member of Convention, - - 146 

Captain of Hanover Volunteers, - 148 

Recovers compensation for gunpowder removed 
by Dunmore, - 149 

Colonel of 1st Va. regiment - - 151 

Driven by ill-treatment to resign, - 153 

Indignation of the troops, - - 154 

Elected 1st Governor ol Independent Va. - 154 
Hill, Col. Edward (the elder) speaker of House of 

Burgesses, 70 

Defeated by Ricahecrians, - - 71-72 

Howard, Lord ol Effingham, Governoi, - 98-100 

Huguenots, settlement of, in Va., - 104-105 

Hunt, Rev. Robert, accompanies expedition to Va., 9-10-15 
Hunter, Robert, appointed Lieut. Governor of Va., 106 

Captured during the voyage by the French, - 107 
Innes, Col , ... 125 

Ii.dians of Va. 3een at Cape Henry, - 10 

Assault Jamestown, - - 12 

Smith captured by, . - - 14 

Tribes of, discovered by Smith, - 17-19 

Smith erects a fort as a refuge from, - 23-24 

Character, habits and modes of life of, - 27-29 

Reflections on extermination of, - 47 

General Act relating to, - - 77 

Number of in Va., - - - 78 

Incursions of, °0 

Piscataway besieged - - 81-82 

Murders committed by, - - 82 

Tribe of, massacred by Nathaniel Bacon, - 83 
Bacon marches against the P.ununkies, - 87 

Invades other tribes, - - 91 

Spotswood reduces tribes of to subjection. - 106 
Capt. McDowell slain by Shawnees, - 113 

Treaty with the six Nations, - - 113 

Treaty of Lancaster, - - H3 

Incursions of, on frontier, - - 125-126 

Battle of, Point Pleasant, - 142-144 

Logan's Speech, - - - 144 

Boone's rencontres with, in Kentucky, - 145-146 
Cherokees compelled to sue for peace, - 161 



INDEX 



VI 



PAGE 

Jamestown, landing at, - - 11 

Assaulted by Indians, 12 

Destroyed by fire, - • - 15 

Affairs at, - - - 16-19-31 

Scarcity of Provisions, 24 

Abandoned by the colonists, - 31 

They return, - - 31 

Church at, - - 32 

Condition of, - - 41 

Bacon enters with an armed force, - 85 

Burnt by the Rebels, - - 92 

Seat of Government removed from, to Williams- 
burg, - - - 102 
Jefferson, John, one of the commissioners appointed by 
James 1st to enquire into aff.iirs of the colony 
of Va. 51 
Jefferson, Thomas, first meets Patrick Henry, 133-144 
Member of Committee of Correspondence, - 111 
Notice of, - - 146-147 
Summary View of Rights of British America, 146-147 
Author of Bill of Rights, 154 
Author of Declaration of Independence, - 154 
Member of committee of Revisal, - 162 
Governor of Va., - - 1GL) 
Attempt of British to capture, - 175 
Jeffreys, Col. Herbert, succeeds Berkley as Governor, 95 
Succeeded by Sir Henry Chicheley, - 96 
Jennings, Edmund, President of Council, - 106 
Kempe, Richard, Governor of Va., - 61 
Lane, Ralph, Gov. of Raleigh's colony, - 5 
Introduces tobacco into England, - 5 
Lancaster, Treaty of, - - 113 
Lawrence, partisan of Bacon, - - 87-95 
Lee, Richard, ... 157 
Lee, Thomas, President of Council, - 117 
Lee, Richard Henry, member of Committee of Corres- 
pondence, - - - 141 
Delegate to Congress, - - 111 
Diaughts Memorial to Inhabitants of British colo- 
nies, .... 142 
Moves a resolution in favor of Independence, 154 
Notice of, - - - 157-159 
Receives thanks of Va. Assembly, - 162 
Lee, Francis Light foot, signer of the Declaration, 159 
Lee, Arthur, notice of, - - 1GC-107 
Lee, Gen. Charles, - - ](i!) 
Lewis, John, pioneer in Augusta country - / 113 
Lewis, Col. Andrew, defeats Indians at Point Plea- 
sant, - - - 142-144 
Appointed Brigadier General, - 153 
Lewis, Col. Charles, mortally wounded at Point Plea- 
sant, - - 113 
Logan, Cayuga chief, speech of, - 114 
Loudoun, Earl of, appointed Governor-in-chief of Va., 

and commander-in-ehiel in tin 1 colonies, - 126 

Loudoun Fort, erected at Winchester, - 125 

Ludwell, Thomas, one of tin; agents of Va., at Lou- 
don, - - 80 
Ludwell, Col. Philip, member of Council, - 84 
His gallant conduct in capturing Bland, - 90 
Sent to England to prefer complaints against Ef- 
fingham, - - - 101 
Madison, James Jr., - 167 
Marshall, Col. Thomas, - - 156 
Marshall, John, - - 153-168 
Makemie, Rev. Francis, resident in Accomac, - 105 



Mason, George, Draughts Non-Importation Agreement, 140 
Member of Committee of Safety, - 151 

Author of first Constitution of Va., - 154 

Member of Committee of Revisal, - 162 

Massacre of the settlers by the Indians, 1622, - 47-49 
" " of 1644, - 61 

Matthews, Capt, Samuel, elected governor of Va. du- 
ring Commonwealth of England, - 72 
Altercation with Assembly ; His election declared 
void; Reelected Governor ; Sent out agent of Va. 
at London, - - - 72 
Maynard, Lieut., despatched in pursuit of Blackbeard 

the Pirate, - - 108 

Maury, Rev. James, brings suit in the Parsons' cause, 130 
Meade, Col. Richard Kidder, anecdote of, - 163 

Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, - 149-150 
Mercer, Col. George, - 124 

Mercer, James, - - 151 

Mercer, Gen. Hugh, - - 161 

Morris, Samuel, a dissenter in Hanover, - 114-115 

Morrison, Francis, Governor of Va. - 76-87-94 

Negroes first introduced into Virginia, - 46 

Number of, in 1049, - - 67 

in 1670, - - 79 

in 1714, - - 108 

Duly on importation of, disallowed, - 111 

Number of, in 1756. - - - 125 

Loss of, in Virginia, during British invasion, 175 

Nelson, Win., President of Council, - 140-155 

Nelson, Thomas, Secretary of Virginia, - 155 

Removes from Yorktown into American camp, 177-178 
Nelson, Jr., Thomas, - - 154-155 

In command of Va. Militia during Arnold's Inva- 
sion, - - - 167-168 
At the Siege of York, - 177 
Newport, Capt., sails for Virginia, 10 
Lands at Jamestown, - 11 
Explores the James river, - 12 
Visits Powhatan at. Werowocomoco, - 16 
Returns to England, - - 16 
Arrives with second supply, - - 19 
Explores the Monacan country, - 21 
Embarks for England, - 21 
Nicholas, Robert C, Treasurer of Virginia, 136 
Member of Committee of Correspondence, 141 
Member of Virginia Convention, - 146 
Nicholson, Col. Francis, Deputy Governor of Va., 101 
Sui ceeded by Sir Edmund Andros, - 102 
Again Deputy Governor, his tyranny, - 102 
Assists in the capture of a Piratical Vessel, 103 
His complaints against Virginia; is recalled, 103 
Norfolk Burnt, - - 153 
Noi wood, Col., Royalist refugee, his voyage to Va., 65 
Despatched to Holland by Sir Wm. Berkley, 66 
Nott, Edward, Lieut. Governor, - 105-106 
Opechancanough, chief of the Pamunkeys, siezed by 

Smith, - - - 23 

Visiis Jamestow n, - - 41 

His hypocrisy in planning the Massacre, 48 

Heads a second Massacre, - 61 

Made prisoner by Sir Win. Berkley His heroism 
in misfortune; murdered by one of his guards, 61 

Opitchapan, Powhatan .succeeded by, - 42 

Page, John, member of Council, - 119 

Member ol Committee <>( Safety, - 151 

Of first Council, under Constitution, - 151 

Commands party of rriilitiaduring Arnold's invasion, 168 



VII 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Pamunkey, or Pamaunkee, original name of York river 14 
Pamunkey, residence of Opechancanough, - 14 

Parliament, the long, prohibits trade and correspon- 
dence with Virginia, - - CO 
Paspaheghs entertain the English kindly, 10 
Chief of, Smith's rencontre with, - 23 
Pendleton, Edmund, opposes Henry's resolutions, 135 
Member of Committee of Correspondence, 141 
Delegate to Congress, - - 111 
Member of Committee to revise Va. Laws, 162 
Percy, Capt. George, Governor of the Colony of Va., 32 
Petersburg, Town of, established, - 115 
General Phillips enters, 169-170 
Cornwallis arrives at, - 172-173 
Piscataway siege of, 81 
Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan, rescues Smith, 15 
Prisoners released to her, - - 16 
Entertains Smith with a dance, - 20 
Discloses to Smith a plot, - 22 
Made prisoner by Argall, - - 34 
John Rolfe marries, - - - 35 
Baptized, - - 37 
Visits England, - - 38 
Recommended to the Queen by Smith, 38 
Smith's interview with, - - 39-39 
Presented at Court, - - 39 
Her death, son and descendants, - 39-40 
Point Pleasant Battle, - - 142-144 
Porterfield, Col., mortally wounded at Camden, 165 
Pott, John, Governor of Va., convicted of stealing 

cattle, ... 54 

Printing Press first introduced into Virginia, - 112 

Powhatan, Indian town near falls of James river, 12 

Powhatan, Indian Chief, - - 12 

Releases Smith owing to intercession of Powhatan, 15 
Newport visits, - - - 16 

Coronation of, - - 20 

Smith visits, - - - 22 

Consents to marriage of Pocahontas, - 35 

Hamer's interview with, - - 36-37 

Death and Character, - - - 42 

Puritans, English, land at Plymouth, - 46 

Come over to Virginia from England, - 60 

Ministers of New England visit Virginia, 60 

Driven by persecution to Maryland, - 65 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, his efforts to colonize Virginia, 3-4 
Assigns his Patent to a company, - 6 

His " History of the World," - - 37 

Notice of his Life and Death, - - 43-44 

Randolph, Peyton, King's Attorney General, an- 
swered by Davies, - - 116-117 
Opposes Henry's Resolutions, - 135-136 
Speaker of the House of Burgesses, - 136 
Member of Committee of Correspondence, 111 
Delegates to Congress, - - 141 
President of Congress, • 142 
His Death, - - 151-152 
Radcliffe, John, President of Council, 10-13-16-21-25-30 
Richmond, Town of, laid off, - - 112 
Established, - - ]]3 
Convention meets at, - . 151 
Seat of Government removed to, - lii^ 
Entered by Arnold, - - 168 
Robinson, John, (Speaker,) - 128-136 
Rolfc, John, marries Pocahontas, - 35 
Membei of the Council, - - 1.) 



Scotch-Irish Settlers of Western Virginia, 112-113 

Smith, Capt. John, Early Life and Adventures of, 7-9 

Vindicates himself from accusations of his enemies 12 
Explores the Country, - 12 

Made prisoner by the Savages. Rescued by Po- 
cahontas. Explores the Chesapeake Bay, 17-19 
President of the Colony, - 19 
His energetic administration, 19-22 
Efforts to quell the disorders prevailing among the 
Colonists. Returns to England, 
Southampton, Earl of, Treasurer of Va. Company, 52 
Spencer, Nicholas, President of Council, - 97 
Stuyvesant, Dutch Governor, Sir Wm. Berkley's re- 
ply to, - - 74 
Swift, Dean, scheme entertained of appointing him 

Bishop of Virginia, - 140 

Tabb, John, - - 151 

Tobacco, Lane introduces into England. Anecdotes 

of Raleigh smoking, - - 5 

Culture of, commenced in Virginia, - 38 

New method of curing, 41 

Cultivation of, discouraged by government, 47 

James First's aversion to, - 47 

Charles affects monopoly of, - 53 

The only staple of Virginia, - 54 

Low price of, - 64-76 

Cessation of crop ordered, - 78 

Trade in. Duty on, - 79 

Low price of, - - 80 

Plant-Cutting. Revenue from, - 97-98 

Excessive cultivation of, - 99 

Two Penny Act, - 120-129 

Destroyed by the enemy, - - 170 

Simcoe, Lieut. Col., - - ] 72-174-176-177 

Suffolk, Burnt by the enemy, - 165 

Tarleton, Lieut. Col., - - 172-174-178 

Totopotomoi, Indian Chief, slain, - 71 

Tyler, John, Revolutionary patriot, - 171-172 

Washington, Col. John, commands militia at Siege of 

Piscataway, - . 81-82 

Washington, Capt. Lawrence, returns from Expedition 

against Carthagena, - - 111 

Washington, George, His early life, a Surveyor, Pro- 
moted to the rank of Major, Despatched by Gov- 
ernor Dinwiddie on amission through the Wilder- 
ness, Appointed Lieutenant Colonel, Surprises a 
French party, - - 118-120 

Forced to surrender at Fort Necessity, Resigns on 
account of offensive army regulations, 121 

Joins Braddoek as aid-de-camp, Heroism at the 
Battle of Monongahela, His account of the de- 
feat, - - 121-122 
Visits Boston, - - 124 
Dinwiddie's offensive correspondence with, 125 
Member of Assembly, - 127 
Marries ; Receives thanks of Assembly, ]28 
Reports the Non-Importation agreement, 140 
Attends a meeting of Burgesses, - 141 
Chosen Commander-in-chief by Congress, 151 
Conduct of affairs during Revolutionary VVar, 160-165 
Wingfield, Edward Maria, 1st President of Council 

of Virginia, - - 11-13 

West, Francis, Governor of Virginia, - 53 54 

Williamsburg, Seat of Government removed to, 102 

Disturbances at, - 148-149 

Cornwallis quartered at, 176 

Lafayette quartered at, • 177 



INDEX. 



VIII 



Woodford, Col., 

Whitefield Preaches at Williamsburg, 
Preaches in Hanover, 

White, Capt., Governor of City of Raleigh in Va., 



PAGE 

152-153-160-1G2 



114 
115 



William III., His accession to English throne, 

Succeeded by Anne, 
Winston, Sarah, mother of Patrick Henry, 
Winston, William, His eloquence, 
Wythe, George, 



PAGE 

100 
103 
132 
132 
156-157 



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